A Fairytale
by Shadow-chan93
Summary: 14th century: Rosette meets a demon boy. They become friends. But some years later a war between human and demonic kingdom will start soon. Rosette and Chrno are the only ones to prevent it. Please read and review
1. I Chapter 1

**AN: **Okay… I had another idea again… The idea is weird, but anyways I've decided to post it. It plays in the middle age, so don't wonder about different things…. Oh, and I just found out that my rhymes are crap XDDD

_**P**__**ART I:**_

**Chapter 1:**

I open my eyes, but my view is blurred. I'm lying on a cold ground… I can't breathe right; the bodice of my old fashioned dress is too tight. Nevertheless I get on my feet, breathing in the fresh air. It's foggy. It's so thick I can't see my own hand. It's cold, I'm shivering. The white snow is freezing my feed. I clutch my shoulders and look around. Where am I? Who am I? And most importantly… what am I? A little wind blows. Soon it gets stronger and swells my long white cape and the bottom part of my as well white dress. I feel empty… something is missing… I touch my back. They are gone. No white fluffy feather, no white angel wings. I can't believe what happened… I am a human. How can that be? Haven't I been in the big angel capital in heaven some seconds ago? But now…Nothing here reminds me of the place I used to live. I wanna go back, I wanna go home. But where is home? I raise my head up to the icy blue sky. The strong wind has blown the fog away. So I am able to notice my surroundings. There is nothing… nothing but snow and snow and only more snow. In the distance I see the tops of some mountains. They are all covered with snow. They have to be extremely high. At home it has been summer as I left. But here it was icy winter. Suddenly it hits me like a slap into the face. I am on the highest place in this whole land. To my left the area is called "kingdom of death and sins". Nobody ever dared to cross the border, never ever. They all know that that was the place where the demons, devil and the creatures of hell use to live. At least that's what the rumours say. I can't say if it's true, but nobody ever returned and the creatures coming from there only spread out fear and pain. The contrast to this is the right side behind the mountains. That's where the humans have built their cities and villages. Once the land was owned by the demons as well. But that was a long time ago and the humans had got the land after a bloody war known as the "War of change". The humans created huge fields were they plant food or they haunted in the forest. Fast their population rose enormously. Now there are already thousands of villages, cities and of cause the capital called 'Soronada'. 'That's the place where I have to go!' I say to myself and make my way down the rocky mountains (AN: of cause not THE rocky mountains, but these are similar to them). Soon I feel hungry and the cold is creeping into my bones. I get tired, but I force myself to go on. After a long long journey I see a huge building with walls and fields around. Next to it is a little church. I speed up my steps and hurry over there. Unfortunately I stumble over my long dress and fall down. The necklace around my neck breaks and pocket watch which hangs on it flies away. Oh, no not the pocket watch! It should be important for the course of the story like God had planned it. And now I am so clumsy to lose it. That's simply my bad luck again. After a while I give up looking for the watch, it is senseless. It can be everywhere. So I go to the building I have seen earlier. It is a convent with lots of busy nuns in it. One of them greets me and I ask for the headnun. She brings me into a beautiful office. A huge oak desk is in the middle, some book shelves cover the walls. The headnun seems nice, she offers me to take a seat. As soon as I sit down I feel dizzy, something is whirring around in my head. My lips move, I don't know what I say. I lose consciousness.

"_A fate… there is a fate,_

_I see__ it's full of hate._

_But full of love as well _

_A love I can't tell._

_The birth of a baby girl_

_Just as beautiful as a pearl._

_Her life will be hard _

_She's not allowed to let down her guard_

_It's her soul she has to release…_

_Only then she will bring peace_

_She's a connection_

_Into the right direction_

_She will live here_

_For more than a year_

_She will find a new friend_

_Or does he only pretend? _

_It will bring a whole change_

_It will all derange_

_Misfortune will build her way_

_But hold on, I have more to say!_

_They will part_

_But never in their heart_

_They will forget_

_That they've met._

_It will lead to a war_

_I warned you before…"_

I open my eyes again. What did I just say? I can't remember, but the nun stares shocked at me. Embarrassed I look down to my hands and try to remember. After a long silence the nun asks me how she would recognise the girl.

"_The parents are rich; they don't live far from here_

_Yeah, the picture in my head is so clear._

_She's a noblewoman__,_

_Hairs blonde like gold,_

_Eyes blue like the ocean_

_Skin so soft."_

The nun thinks for a moment. I shall tell her my name.

"I am Mary Magdalene."

Half a year later I am called to a noble county house. One of the highest lords of the whole kingdom lives there. It's said that he's the king's younger brother, so he was a really powerful man. The lady of the house has given birth to a little girl last night. I look in her eyes and see this blue deep. She is the right.

_~thoughts of Mary Magdalene_

-----

Five years later a carriage was on their way through the forest. There was only one way and it should lead to the convent. The convent was known for its knowledge and its education. It was a perfect place for the noble kids to grow up and where they would be educated in literature, arts, maths, sciences etc. Around the carriage there were some guards on their horses. In the carriage there were four persons – two maids and two kids.

"When are we there?" A five years old girl asked while pushing the curtains away and looking outside. Her golden blonde shoulder long her was falling down like silk on each side of her shoulders. It was put into two braids. The dress she wore was light blue with a big ribbon on the back.

"We arrive soon, Miss Rosette." The maid in front of her answered with a warm smile. In contrast to her, the other maid looked bored and annoyed. "Do you know how often she has asked that in the last ten minutes?" She hissed to her colleague. "Na, let her ask. She's a child."

"When are we there?" She asked again.

"Soon, Miss Rosette."

"And now?"

The maid again took a breath to answer her question, but she didn't have time to say anything.

"And now? And now? And now?! And now?! AND NOW?! AND NOW? AND NOW? AND NOW? AND NOW?" Rosette babbled.

"Oh my,… do something to shut her up!" The annoyed maid complained.

"And what am I supposed to do?" The other whispered back.

Suddenly the second maid gripped a bag which lay behind the bench. Out of the bag she pulled a muffin and put it into Rosette's mouth. The little girl looked puzzled at the first moment, but she noticed soon that it was something to eat. Now her full attention was on her muffin.

The four years old boy in the carriage looked over to her and giggled. His hair was blonde as well, but it was lighter. He wore an old fashioned white shirt and black trousers. The boy leaned over and pulled lightly at the sleeve of the annoyed maid. "May I have a muffin as well?"

"Aww, sure Joshua. You're such a little angel!" She said now more friendlier and handed him a muffin with chocolate on it.

"Are we there?"

"NO!"

Fortunately they arrived at their destination within the next hour. The luggage was brought into two rooms. Rosette directly hurried into her one. So this was the place where she was supposed to live until she had learned everything she needed to know. The room looked good. There was a big bed in the middle of it. On one side was a wooden wardrobe and on the opposite side there was a desk under a small window. But there was also a bigger window which could be used as a door to something that seemed like a balcony.

The girl hopped on her bed and tested if it was soft and comfortable. After she was done she ran to the door to the balcony and opened it. Fresh air blew in her face and curtains inside moved. The blonde stepped out and closed the door behind her again. The balcony was relatively big. It was bordered by a white parapet. Including the door to her room, there were two doors. The second one was one of these window doors as well. Rosette looked inside and saw her brother jumping on the bed. He had turned his back to her, so he wasn't able to notice her. Rosette checked if the door was open and sneaked into the room. She as well climbed on the bed and shouted loudly "BOOO!!!" Joshua nearly fell forwards down to the floor. And he would have landed there if his sister hadn't held him.

"That was so mean!" He turned around to her and looked angered.

"Catch me if you can!" The girl stuck out her tongue and ran away through the door on the corridor of the building. There were lots of corridors in the building. But only one big wooden door led outside in the yard. Next to the yard there were an orchard and a patch. Directly behind it were fields and meadows. A little river, or better a brook, was there too. The kids ran around a corner of the building to see what's on the other side. Suddenly they bumped directly into somebody.

"Pay attention and look where you are running." An intimidating nun said.

"S-sorry." Both stuttered.

"Now, please follow me into the office. It's time to explain you why you're here." The nun said again and the children followed immediately without complaining.

The nun told them that she was the headnun, her name was Sister Kate. "So, your father, Lord Vinsent, send you here to learn something about religion, literature, arts, languages and sciences. Your first classes will start tomorrow, so please get up early. Breakfast is at seven o'clock." – Rosette pulled a face – "Classes start at eight and ends at 1 pm." – Rosette again pulled a face, but she earned a strict glare by Kate - "Lunch is at two and dinner at six. Moreover you have to go to church in the morning and in the evening. The rest of your time is free. Don't leave the convent area. And NEVER go to the mountains. That was all; you are allowed to go now."

The siblings hopped from their seats and ran outside again. The church the nun had spoken of was at the left side of the building. It was not seen from the yard. On the right, as well not seen when you stood in the yard, was a stable with horses and behind was another stable, obviously for the cows which were grazing at one of the meadows at the moment.

The classes Rosette and Joshua had, were difficult for the little kids. But the teacher made it as easy for them as they could. Unfortunately it was not always possible. Languages was Rosette's favourite subject, Joshua preferred sciences more.

Fast both got used to the life here and it was a home for them. So one year passed by. The two blondes were now six and five years old. Today it was Saturday, that meant there were no classes. So they decided to do a little excurse into the forest next to the meadows. It was always nice there and they always found something interesting to examine. Actually the kids were not allowed to go over there, but they always found a way to sneak out. Usually they came back later, their clothes totally dirty and the nuns were angry. But if a kid is not allowed to play and get dirty,… well is it still a kid then?

**AN: **Alright that was the first chapter. How was it? I don't know how it came out… so please review, okay? Next Chapter comes next week...


	2. I Chapter 2

**AN: **So here's the next chapter^^ sorry, it's late, but I didn't have time to write and then I finally had time, but I was sick... and I am still sick...

**Chapter 2:**

To the same time, two other children grew up. They lived on the other side of the mountains and they as well grew up in a rich family. The mansion they lived in with their family was more like a castle with a little gothic touch. Their father was one of the most important men and had a lot of power. As soon as he would die, the twins would take in his place. Until this time would come, they were supposed to be educated here. They were treated like princes, but their live was nevertheless hard. They were demons at all and being a demon means much more than to be a human. Except for the normal classes, the humans as well were taught, the devil kids had to learn to control their special powers. At this moment they sat in the library of the castle and their private teacher tried to teach them something about literature. It was about an old book – no wait, an old boring book, yeah, that would describe it better. The book was an autobiography written by someone who lived in the time of the "War of change". So they book was used for history classes as well. The author had a terrible writing style which made the whole book only more boring. The twins complained the whole time and soon their teacher was really annoyed of the interruptions.

During the noon, the weather became warmer. Plus in the library it was warmer than outside. It was too warm to learn something. So the classes took place outside in the yard in the shadow of a tree. Finally after lunch both demon children were allowed to do what they wanted. They had only a few free time, but if they were allowed to do what they wanted, they always strayed around in the big lands owned by their father. The county was big. It included the whole south part of the demon kingdom. Together with the eastern county it had a connection to the mountains. Already as little children the brothers were taught to stay on their side of the mountains. On the other side the humans lived. They were dangerous. They had special weapons and holy water, not to forget that they had God on their side. No devil who crossed the border came back alive. Of cause the mountains were very interesting for the kids and fascinating as well. The mountains were so huge and on their tops there was always snow. Most of the time the tops were covered with clouds, therefore nobody knew exactly how high they were really. The kids always played close to the border, but they never took a step on the mountain area because they knew exactly that they would be punished later.

At the moment they were lying in the shadow of a big willow tree, taking a little nap. Suddenly a loud call coming from an employee reached their sensitive ears. One of the twins sat up from his lying posture and looked into the direction where it had been coming from while one hand shaded his eyes. "Nya, we gotta go home again." He murmured and pulled a face. His long purple bangs were bordering his face while the rest of his long hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. On his back were little bat like wings, two small ivory horns stuck out of both sides of his head. He wore a white shirt and some dark brown trousers with suspenders. His brother's clothes were similar to these, but the trousers were black. He also had the same haircut, but his hair was silvery white, his horns were like ebony.

"Ah, at first they have to find us. That takes time. Relax, Chrno." He said without opening his eyes. Arms crossed behind his heads he enjoyed the nice spring days here. All trees and bushed had already got their flowers. They sent a beautiful scent into the air.

"Right…" Chrno grinned and got on his feet. He brushed the dirt on his trousers away and looked towards the mountains again. "Let's go further away, Aion. Then it will take longer until they find us." Now the other one got up as well and they made their way over a little meadow between the willow tree to the forest. They followed a little path. The forest was one of their favourite places. The trees there were huge. At the beginning of the forest there were some deciduous trees but further away resp. closer to the mountains there were only coniferous trees. Some of the deciduous trees were ideal to climb onto them. There was one of them that was the biggest tree in the forest. It had a thick trunk with a diameter of at least seven meters. The branches were so thick that they were able to carry a full-grown dragon. Aion and Chrno had seen a dragon there before. But it was only one time and they never saw it again. Furthermore there weren't so many dragons than before. They had heard stories that about fifty years ago the dragons begun to disappear. Now they had almost vanished completely. Anyways, the huge tree was home for lots of animals like squirrels and some birds. The animals lived in the niches, ramifications and other parts that stuck out of the trunk.

Aion and Chrno climbed onto to tree. From the top of the tree they were able to see over the leave roof of the forest (AN: is that word right? Leave roof? In German it's 'Blätterdach'…) As a little spot in the distance the castle was seen. But it was too far away to see more of it than this black spot. With his face turned into the light wind Chrno enjoyed the nice view over the landscape until Aion told him to listen to the sound on the ground. Their ears were much more sensitive than human ones, so they were able to hear someone even if he or she wasn't close to them. Now it sounded like someone was trudging through the forest and calling their name. "We have to find a better place to hide, ya know." Aion said annoyed. "Let's go somewhere else. They know that we're always hiding here…" Chrno agreed with his brother and they jumped down the tree. The little wings braked their fall and they landed softly on the ground. "This is just a question, but are we running away and not flying?" Aion suggested. "Because" Chrno answered. "This is much more fun!" They jumped over some wood and arrived at a little path. They didn't really know who had made that path, but it was there. Perhaps it was made by some animals like does or wild boars looking for food or water.

"I bet I'm faster than you!" Aion shouted while they were running up the path.

"I bet you don't!" Chrno countered and both started a little race. At first it looked like Aion won, but soon they were next to each other. Suddenly there was someone in front of them and they had to stop immediately. They were only able to see a silhouette of a devil and nothing more. He gripped both of them on their suspenders and lifted them up. Not happy about the situation the younger ones pouted and crossed their arms.

"Seems like I finally got you two." The unknown person said. Because of his voice, Chrno could tell that he was one of their guards. Normally the guards were supposed to follow the two princes everywhere, but they had gotten rid of them as they played hide & seek in another part of the forest. Now it seemed like one of them had found them. "Your father is not pleased with you behaviour, young Masters. You shouldn't run away so often. And your mother already awaits you for tea." The guard went on talking. Aion groaned and stuck out his tongue. "Not tea again…"

The older demon had still a firm grip on the suspenders. Nevertheless he spread out his wings and flew in the direction to their home.

"We can fly alone!" Aion complained again.

"Sure, and then you fly away again and I was to search you for more than five hours." Again the twins groaned. After a ten minutes flight they landed in the yard of the castle. Directly a maid rushed towards them. She quickly bowed and began to speak while she still looked down to the ground. "Your mother has been worried about you two. She wants you to come into the salon for tea as fast as possible." She lifted her head and nearly fainted. "Oh my… How are you looking?! The… the new clothes! They were so expensive! You can't go into the salon like this. You have to take a bath before!" She stuttered.

One of the first rules when you talk to little kids younger than 10 yeas is: Do never use the word 'bath' or 'soap'. I don't know why it's like that, but it's an important rule. The brothers exchanged glances, screamed and spun around to run away. Unfortunately they were caught at their suspenders again.

Later the kids were bathed and wore new fresh clothes. Chrno sniffed on his sleeve. Bah, it smelled again like some sort of flowers, disgusting. Don't get me wrong the scent of flowers in the nature was okay and nice, but PLEASE NOT ON THE CLOTHES OR AS BATHING OIL OF PARFUME OR WHATEVER!!! That's okay for a girl, but not for a boy! Listlessly the brother went into the salon. The salon looked more like a winter garden. The roof and three walls were of glass. The fourth wall was a normal wall which was the connection to the rest of the house. In this winter garden thing there were some exotic plants, flowers and little bushes. In the middle of it there was a round elegant table with some elegant chairs around it. The lady of the house Lilith already sat on her chair and listened to some music a servant was playing on a violin. She was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and a cream coloured dress. Two sparkling curved horns stuck out of her head. She wasn't in her full demon form because she thought that something like wings would only be annoying at the moment. It was a rarity to see her in her full demon form. She saw her two sons and got up to greet them with a big kiss on their cheek.

"Do you always have to do that?" Both kids asked in common while rubbing their cheeks.

"Of cause I have to. You're my two sweet babies." She patted their heads and told them to take a seat. Afterwards she asked to servant to bring the tea and the cake. Immediately a maid came with a tabled and poured the tea into the cups. Another one came with two tablets. On each one was something to eat. One was filed with biscuits, while on the other one was a cake. The maids asked what they wanted to eat and gave everyone of them a huge piece of cake.

"Why doesn't father eat with us?" Chrno asked his mother.

"He has a lot to do. There are some problems he has to solve." The woman explained with a warm smile.

They were eating in silence for a moment. Aion took one of the biscuits. It was filled with some sort of cream and after he had bitten in it, it burst at the other end and the cream splashed on Chrno. "HEY!" He screamed and wiped the cream out of his face. Aion smiled at him with an innocent smile and said sorry. Well at least he tried to, but a piece of cake had landed in his face. A cake fight began between both and they were chasing each other to throw more cake on the other one. At first they only ran around in the salon-winter-garden-thing (AN: lol), but then they escaped thought the door which lead into the main building.

Stunned Lilith looked at the door, her hand with the fork like frozen in the air between cake and her mouth. "I hope that behaviour gets better when they're older…"

**AN: **hehe… so in this chapter I wanted to show that devils and demons aren't bad, uncivilized, brutal, violent or whatever… Just look a t Lilith. Does she behave like that in this chapter? No. So demons and devils can good as well.


	3. I Chapter 3

**AN** Next chappie^^ Enjoy and please review.

**Chapter 3:**

In the same afternoon Rosette and Joshua were having tea as well. Because of the nice weather they sat outside on their balcony. There was a small round table and three chairs, everything in light colours. The view from the balcony was beautiful. The two children could see some fields and meadows, a little brook and far away in the distance the forest and the mountains.

Joshua wasn't really hungry today so he decided to eat only a small piece of the apple pie which was brought by a maid. Although it was a convent with lots of nuns, there were nevertheless some maids who lived here and who should take care of Rosette and Joshua.

Rosette on the other hand was hungry… like always. She ate one piece of pie after the other one.

"I think you should bring more to eat for her." Joshua whispered to the maid who bowed and went away.

After the fifth piece the girl finally stopped eating and smiled happily.

"That was a good…" She leaned her head on her two hands and watched the landscape. As mentioned before it was a beautiful weather. It was warm, only a light wind blew and there were almost no clouds. The only clouds covered the mountain tops. They were a little bit darker. Perhaps they would bring a storm or so during the night of the next day.

"You shouldn't eat so much! Or do you want to get fat?" The boy started to tease her.

"I'm not fat!" The blonde snapped back.

--

The cake fight was funny and afterwards both, Aion and Chrno, were full of cream. To wash the cream away they jumped with their clothes into the little brook next to the woods. With a loud SPLASH they landed in the water. Their two guards who followed them again – they could be really annoying – didn't want to get wet. So they stayed in a little distance. But that didn't worked like they had planned it and soon they were wet as well. While Chrno distract them by splashing water at them, Aion sneaked behind them and pushed them both into the brook with the head at first. There was a loud sound as they hit the water surface. Immediately they got up again. The brook wasn't very deep, it only reached to the guards' knees, but it was deep enough to get all wet. They wiped the water out of their eyes and… noticed that the kids were gone. Then they started to argue whose fault it was that they had lost Chrno and Aion. The parents wouldn't be very pleased about that. Plus they weren't able to fly. If their wings hadn't been wet, they could have looked for them in the air. That was not possible now. So they argued only more.

Laughing about the two idiots, the brothers were already far away. They were again on the way to their favourite place – the big tree. To their surprise there was the dragon sitting on one of the branches. It was huge, about 20 times bigger than a normal demon. Its scales were a dark green-blue and they sparkled in the light. The long horns on his had were bowed to its back they had the colour of a pearl. Its claws and teeth were of the same colour. Speaking of the teeth, they were huge. On of them was at least one meter long. At the moment the teeth weren't as clean as they would have been normally. They were bloody. And that was obviously caused by the dead half-eaten cow in the dragon's claws.

Chrno shook disgusted his head because of the smell of the dead cow. Aion as well pulled a face. They stood behind a bush so the dragon didn't see them. It was said that dragons could get angry easily and the kids didn't want to disturb its meal. "What shall we do now?" Chrno asked his brother and looked nervously to the big demonic animal in front of them. Then he noticed that Aion wasn't next to him anymore. Chrno scanned the area and found him hiding in the shadow of the trunk of the big tree. "Hey! What are you doing?" He hissed to Aion. The white haired devil sneaked closer to the dragon.

"I wanna have one of these beautiful scales! Just imagine the other's faces if we would come home with a dragon scale!" Aion turned his head to Chrno and whispered back as quietly as he could. He had always been the braver one of the two twins and it was no wonder that he did something which was as dangerous as this. He climbed a little bit up the tree and was close enough to the dragon's tail. With a stretched arm he tried to reach it. Suddenly his left foot slipped away and he landed on the ground. Worried Chrno watched the scene. He thought it would be better not to touch the dragon. But Aion was now too far away to tell him without the dragon noticing it. Suddenly the wind changed its direction and the dragon sniffed the air. Directly Aion looked up to the dragon, afraid that it could have noticed him. But it still enjoyed its cow meal. Relieved Aion sighed and tried again to reach for a scale. "Hu?" He saw Chrno's shocked face and made the hey-what's-wrong-look. It took a second or two until Chrno was able to move. With a shaking hand the purple head pointed behind him. Slowly Aion turned around and looked directly at pearl white teeth with some blood. Shocked Aion stood there with an open mouth for some seconds. The dragon let out a light growl. "Puh! Boah, you have a really bad breath." The dragon bared its fangs more and growled louder. It snapped at Aion's arm. But he was fortunately pulled back by Chrno. In the undergrowth of the woods they weren't able to run fast enough, so they spread their little wings and tried to fly away. Luckily their wings were dry again, with wet wings they would have only more trouble now. Within seconds they were over the trees. With a lot of luck the dragon wouldn't follow them. Under them there was heard a loud noise as the branches and twigs broke under and over the dragon. Now it was airborne as well and in the air it looked bigger than it looked before. Its body raised and sunk with the slow movements of the wings. How could such a heavy monster actually be able to fly?

The twins tried to fly away, but the dragon blocked their way home. The animal pushed them backwards - directly in the direction of the mountains. "I will never ever come closer to a dragon!!! I swear!" Aion screamed and flew faster. "And where are the stupid guards when you need them?!" Chrno commented.

At home Lilith jumped out of her seat. "Was that a dragon?! I heard a dragon roar! Where are my children?" Embarrassed the two guards entered her room. "And?" – "We lost them, Lady Lilith." "WHAT?" For the first time in a lot of years Lilith switched into her full demon form and hurried out of the house to search for her kids. She heard the dragon roar one more time and followed the sound. The animal seemed to be angry and she only hoped that that had nothing to do with her children.

--

After tea Joshua and Rosette asked if they were allowed to have a little ride on horseback. They took two ponies from the stable and decided to ride over the meadow and a little bit in the woods. Rosette pony was a little mare with a light brown fur, a light blonde mane and tail and white marks on all its legs. Joshua's pony was as well a little mare, but this one had darker brown fur and a black mane and tail. It had only one white mark at the left front leg.

After they had let the ponies go slowly in the first quarter an hour, they galloped over a field and trotted over a path which lead into the forest. There was heard a loud noise from the mountains. Perhaps there was a thunder storm coming or something like that. Because of the echo, the sounds were always distorted. So a simple thunder could sound like a dragon's growl. (AN: lol)

The siblings arrived at a little clearing. "Hey, let's have a little break here." Rosette suggested and jumped down of her pony.

"No, I don't have so much time. I promised Claire to help her with the cookies today in the afternoon. I've to be back in half an hour." Joshua explained, but he knew that his sister could be stubborn. If she wanted to have a break now, she would have a break now and not sometime else. "I'm riding home again." He said goodbye and was on his way back.

"So what shall _we_ do now?" Rosette sat down on a trunk and watched her mare. As it heard her voice the pony looked up and watched at her with big eyes. It snorted and began to eat the grass on the clearing. Meanwhile Rosette examined the clearing. She found bird's nest, a funny squirrel that sat in a tree and an interesting spider net with a red spider in it. The spider was just eating a fly. Suddenly Rosette felt something stub at her back. It was the pony and it obviously wanted something to eat.

"Go and eat your grass." Like on command the pony shook its head and snorted again. Then it pricked up and looked to the left. Apparently there was something really interesting behind a stupid bush. The animal took some steps back as the bush rustled. It sounded like an animal, a big animal. Nervously Rosette took one step back as well and called "Hello?"

--

Lilith had found the dragon. It was very close to the mountains. Plus she saw Aion close to it. She didn't saw Chrno, but he was surely not far away. The woman screamed loudly and got the dragons attention. Taking the chance Aion escaped and flew home. After a while Lilith as well came home. The dragon was lying in the mountains, pierced of a pointed rock. Do never anger a worried mother. She hurried home. Aion directly came crying to her. She lifted her son up in her arms and held him tight. "Do never do that again. You could have died!" She put him down again to hug her other child. "Wait. Where's Chrno?" She asked worried. Aion began to cry more. The mother knelt down in front of him and took him at his shoulders. "Where is he?" She asked again.

"I-I don't know!" He wept. "The dragon thing chased us and there was so much wind. I saw the dragon hit him with its wing, then the wind blew to strong and I made some somersaults. When I flew normal again Chrno had disappeared and you came." Lilith's gaze turned empty. But she pulled herself together and got up again. "Go and look everywhere for him. Everywhere, understand? And where's my husband?" She yelled at the employees.

"Your husband, the southern Lord, hasn't returned yet. He went to visited count Kalw in the morning. He will be back this evening." A maid bowed and winced as Lilith screamed at her as well. "THEN GO AND TAKE HIM BACK, DAMN!!! OR I'LL DO IT BY MYSELF!"

"Yes, yes, Ma'am." The poor maid stuttered and fled away from the angry mother.

--

The bush still rustled and the leaves moved. Rosette's pony minced and neighed. "Calm down!" The girl petted the neck of the little horse.

Then the leaves in the front of the bush were pushed away. Rosette gasped. A boy about her age stood in front of her. Except for his long purple hair and the sparkling red eyes he looked like every other normal child. His hair was put back in a low ponytail, but it was nevertheless messy. His clothes were dirty and some parts were ripped. Startled he looked at her and took one step backwards. Rosette wondered why he looked so scarred. Did she look so scarring? She looked down on herself, but everything was normal with her. "Uhm… hello. My name is Rosette." She started to speak. "What's your name?" A light wind came from the back and brushed her blonde hair into her face.

**AN: **So uhm, how was this chapter? I have no idea what I am writing. I'm just trying to get the chapter over 2100 words XD Oh, and please review^^


	4. I Chapter 4

**AN: **Hi! =D Next chapter^^ But let's start with a flashback this time.

**Chapter 4: **

_Flash back:_

Chrno and Aion fled from the dragon as fast as their little wings could carry them. The animal roared loudly behind them and snapped at them from time to time. Luckily it was not really a fast flier but it came closer and closer until it was next to them. The twins had to fly into different directions and now the dragon was in the middle, Aion on the left side and Chrno on the right side. The different wind directions made it difficult to fly. They were happy that they even stayed in the air and that they didn't fell down. A fall from this height was surely deadly. To Chrno's fright, the conifer forest under him started to clear and rocks appeared. The dragon pushed them too far away from home and too close to the mountains! Somehow they had to come back. Aion gave him a sign. He showed him how they could be able to escape, but it was difficult to fulfil Aion's plan. One had to distract the dragon. While it turned to head to the one who did that, the other one could escape and scream loudly. As soon as the dragon turned around to see who had screamed the other one could escape as well. It was the only plan they had and it was worth a try. Aion called after the dragon and it turned to him. Then a loud roar was heard. Chrno waited for the right opportunity and flew under the right wing of the dragon. He screamed and the dragon scanned the area for him. Unfortunately a strong wind came and blew Chrno higher in the air. He only saw Aion doing some somersaults in the air because of that and the next thing he saw was the huge wing coming towards him. Within less than a second it hit him hard and he fell down. He fell and fell, doing some somersaults in the air as well. The wind blew him from the right to the left and let him spin him the air. Then Chrno suddenly noticed black clouds around him. Storm clouds. All demonic kids who were able to fly were always thought to never fly into one of these clouds and now he was directly in the middle of one. The wind went only stronger and after some minutes Chrno lost orientation. Where was up and down? Where was north and south, east and west? Most importantly where was home? He became panicked and tried to get air under his wings, but they always bend too much in the storm. And the storm went on like that. Some thunder was heard and Chrno squeaked as there was a lightning not far away from him. He didn't know how much time he had been in the air, but slowly the ground came closer and the wind decreased. Tired the demon child spread out his bat wings and sailed to the ground where the next shock awaited him. He didn't know anything here, he didn't recognize anything here – and normally he knew his forest by heart. Moreover the whole woods had a whole lot different scent which was mostly caused by the trees and flowers he didn't know. Nothing here reminded him of home. And the strange thing here was, that there were no conifer trees, or at least only a few.

Chrno sat down between two bushes and leaned on the trunk of a tree. He shivered although it was warm. His muscles refused to move. His eyes wandered around, but they didn't found anything familiar. He was afraid that he could be on the forbidden side of the mountains, so he switched in his human form. Perhaps the humans wouldn't recognize him when they saw him. Perhaps that would save his life. He knew all the cruel stories about humans killing demons after all. So the only thing he could do was hoping that he still was on his side of the mountains, finding a way out of the forest and finding someone who could help him. So he forced himself onto his feet and made his way through the undergrowth. Unfortunately the bushes in this part of the woods had thorns and soon all his clothes had rips. His hair also got stuck into the brushwood and it got messy. Suddenly he heard some voices in the distance. With new energy he wanted to find the speaking persons. The closer he came, the louder the voice became. It was now only one person speaking. Soon he would be were, only one little bit… yeah, it came from the clearing behind the bush. He brushed the leaves away and in front of him he saw a girl about his age. She had golden blonde hair which reached to her shoulder-blades. It was pulled into to braids, one of each side of her head. Her eyes were an ocean blue, fitting to her dress which was light blue with a white ribbon on the back. She had no horns, no wings. With other words no demonic features. So Chrno really was on the wrong side of the mountains. He took one step back in case the human should get the idea to attack him. But she didn't seem like doing that. In her hand she held the reins of a pony. The pony smelled his scent and glared at him. A silence was between both children. All of a sudden the girl began to speak and asked him something. But the only thing Chrno understood was 'barbarbar'. What language was that? Irritated he took again a step back. The wind turned its direction and he was able to smell the girls scent. He had never smelled something like that before. This was definitely not a demon. "I don't understand you." He stuttered hesitating.

--

The boy in front of her looked confused. Then he said something which Rosette didn't understand. He spoke a whole lot different language. Where was he coming from? Perhaps from the east states of the kingdom. There the people spoke a different language. She hadn't heard the eastern language yet, but that was the only possible explanation. And what did he actually do here? Did his family moved here? Or was he a runaway? His clothes looked expensive even through they were ribbed at some parts. Rosette didn't know. Then she got an idea. She pointed at herself and said "Rosette." He started to understand and pointed at himself as well "Chrno." Rosette grinned at him and sat down on a trunk. She patted the place next to her and gestured him to sit down. He hesitated again, but the curiosity predominated and he let himself plop onto the trunk – but still in a save distance to her. (AN: He's paranoid XD) Rosette blinked. He seemed really shy or he didn't really trust her which was more possible. Perhaps some sweets would change his mind. She went to the saddle bag of the pony and pulled a smaller a piece for cloth which was tied with a little ribbon at its ends out of it. She opened and the contents were show. There were some different sort of sweets, cookies and candy in it. The girl held it to him and said: "Sweets?". But he shook his head and leaned away from it – there could be poison in it. (AN: XD Still paranoid). Disappointed Rosette looked at the sweets. Then she started to eat them by their own without looking at him. After some minutes she glanced over to him and saw him biting his lip. She held the food again to him and said "Sweets?" once more. This time she pointed at the sweets and showed him with that gesture that the things were called 'sweets'. Chrno slowly took one and put it in his mouth. It tasted really good. He smiled at her and repeated her word. Then he pointed at the sweets and said the word in his language. Then they started telling each other the names of different other things. These were for example the tree, the leaves, grass, a squirrel on a tree, a little bunny which hopped over the clearing, the horse or pony, and a lot of other things. Some of the words sounded funny or odd and the kids had to laugh about that or about the other one's pronunciation. And soon the afternoon transformed into early evening and the sun was about to go down. They heard someone call for Rosette. Obviously it was time to go home for her. She waved her hand and showed him to follow her, but he shook his head. The person who had called her was closer and Rosette shouted something back. Scarred Chrno looked in the direction where the call had been coming from. It had sounded like an adult. Who knew if the adult humans were as nice as the younger girl in front of him? He put his index finger in front of his mouth and made a "Psh!!!" The blonde looked confused at him. He repeated the "Psh!" and put his hands together like begging her. She seemed to understand and nodded. The purple head waved a goodbye and disappeared in the forest.

The girl watched him going away. What a strange boy. She stayed in this position for a little until a third call pulled her out of her thoughts. She got on her pony and trotted along the little path she had used before. At the end of the path there was a maid, as well on a horse.

"Ah, there you are, Miss Rosette." She smiled warmly at the child. "You shouldn't stay so long in the forest. It's getting dark already." She explained her.

"Okay." Rosette said and the maid brought her home. After the dinner, Joshua gave her some cookies he had made together with Clair. (AN: XD Again food for Rosette XD) Then they were sent to their rooms. However they stayed a little bit outside on the balcony, telling each other how their day was. Rosette knew that Chrno had asked her not to tell anyone about him. But she thought that it would be okay if her brother knew it. He was the type of person who could keep secrets without telling them to someone who wasn't allowed to know about it.

"Hey, Joshua. Today I met a boy in the forest." She started.

"Oh, really? Who was it?" Joshua asked interested.

"His name is Chrno… I think… He speaks another language. - oh, look, a shooting star!" The girl watched the sky and was amazed how many stars were seen today.

"Another language?" Joshua repeated. "What language?"

"I don't really know. Perhaps the eastern language." She shrugged her shoulders and looked at her brother.

Joshua frowned and replied with shrugging his shoulders again. "If you see him again you can ask him."

"And how shall I ask him if I don't understand him and he doesn't understand me?" Rosette crossed her arms and pouted.

"True." Joshua had to admit.

"But Joshua." She looked him deep in the eyes. "Promise me you don't tell anyone about him, alright? I don't know why but he doesn't want others to know about him, alright?"

--

If this was the human side Chrno only had to fly over the mountains to get in his land again. That shouldn't be so difficult. After he was sure that the girl was gone and nobody else saw him, he switched into his devil form and started to fly. It was further away than he expected it to be. Soon he was tired and fought against the wind over the mountains. He flew under the storm this time, of cause not through it like the last time. Nevertheless the wind was strong. After half an hour he saw the beginning of the conifer forest – He had never been so happy to see it. After five minutes more he saw already his home. On the ground and in the air he saw a lot of devils. They were everywhere and… they shouted his name. Relieved to be back home he called for them and almost immediately his mother was by his side. She hugged him tightly.

"Oh my dear, I thought the dragon had eaten you! I was so worried! Don't do that ever again, okay? I'm so happy to have you back!!!" She rubbed her head on his one.

"Sorry, I came into a storm and it blew me away. I lost my… way…zzzZZZ" He muttered before falling asleep exhausted in her arms.

**AN:** First meeting^^ Yay! Please tell me if you like the story/ chapter or not^^ Review

And sorry if there are more word or grammatical mistakes ." I haven't written something in English for a long time.


	5. I Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

The next day the warm morning sun woke Chrno up. He muttered something and pulled the blankets over his head. Soon he found that it was too warm there and he decided to get up. He took some new clothes and went through a small door which let into his own bathroom. When he was done there, he went out on the corridor and knocked on the opposite door. It took some minutes until the door was opened. Aion yawned loudly and scratched his head. It seemed like he had been sleeping until now. His white hair was messy and stuck out into every possible direction. Plus he still wore his night clothes. Chrno wonder if Aion was even awake or still asleep. After he had rubbed the sleep out of his eyes Aion grinned at him.

"Wait a moment. I'll be ready in a sec. Then you have to tell me everything!!!" five minutes he came back again, this time with brushed hair and normal clothes.

"So what happened? Where have you been? Why were you so long away from home?" He showered Chrno with questions and hopped excited next to him. "I wanna hear everything!"

"Yeah okay, calm down!" Chrno smiled at him and began to tell the story while they were on the way to have breakfast. He told him that he had gotten into the storm after the dragon had hit him and that he stayed there for a while. But then he lied and said that he had been unconscious for a while. Chrno didn't mention neither the other side of the mountains nor the strange girl he had met there. He thought it was better to keep it as a secret.

"But guess what I have here!" Suddenly something came to his again and gripped in the pocket of his trousers. That what he pulled out sparkled in the light.

"Boah! That's not what I think it is, is it?" Aion asked amazed and took the object in his hands. "What's not really a dragon scale? Is it?"

"Yup." Chrno nodded and grinned contented. "I took it as I flew under the dragon before it hit me. I have two other ones in my room. You can have this one if you want."

"Really? Thank you!" Aion grinned all over his face and never let the scale out of his eyes for the rest of the day, not for breakfast, not for classes, not for lunch, not at the time their father scolded them for doing such a dangerous thing. Yeah… scolding… that was the thing their father did… He was never happy with them, he always treated them like they were nothing. That was a hard thing for two little kids. But fortunately they had their mother who was always there for them.

Later the two brothers sat in the yard and played with two wood swords. Normally they were of the same strength, but today Aion won more times than usually.

"Hey! What's with you?" He asked after he had one the fourth time.

"Sorry I can't concentrate rightly today." The purple haired boy excused. In his thoughts he still was at the forest on the other side. He still knew the scent of the trees and bushes where which smelled a lot better than the ones here at home. Plus he wondered if all the books in the huge library were right. The books always said that humans were monsters who stole their land and who killed a lot of demons. All the adults Chrno had asked thought the same. But the girl over there didn't seem to be so bad. Was it too dangerous to meet her again? If he didn't harm her, the human girl didn't have a reason to harm him. That was a good deal. Perhaps she could teach him something about the human culture. He had always been interested in this kind of stuff, but he didn't know how to do that. If he told everything to his brother, Aion could perhaps tell it to another person or worse to their parents. So the best was to stay there for the moment. Perhaps there would be an opportunity in some days.

--

The next day everybody was in Joshua's room. He had gotten a high temperature over night and it didn't want to sink. Worried Rosette sat next to him on his bed. Next to her were some doctors and healer who lived in the neighbourhood of the convent. They gave him some medicine he should take three times a day. They weren't able to do more for the moment. Afterwards they left again, but they told Sister Kate that she should call for them if Joshua's condition got worse. Rosette refused to leave her brother alone and stayed with him the whole day. She even fell asleep there. A nun came and brought her back to her own bed. One day afterwards the fever was better. The doctor said that it was only a normal cold perhaps caused by staying too long outside on the balcony in the evening. Since that time Rosette always took care that in Joshua's and her own room the door wasn't open during the night. And fortunately Joshua was healthy after three more days.

Then she suddenly had a weird dream. There was the little clearing in the forest and there also was the strange looking boy smiling at her. He didn't spoke, but she new exactly what he wanted to tell her even without words. So she smiled back and waved at him. He chuckled, but then he vanished in the woods again. Rosette woke up and sat straight in her bed. The girl shook her head and went to the window where she brushed the curtains away. It was full moon. The sky was totally clear and all the stars were seen. There was one star which sparkled the most. She could remember that the star was called 'north star' or something like that.

--

Chrno walked around in his room. He wasn't able to sleep because he had had a dream about the girl. Now he was looking out of the window and he watched amazed the beautiful stars. Perhaps he could escape tomorrow and look for her on the clearing. If he was lucky, she would be there again. And so he did.

--

Rosette decided to ride to the clearing this afternoon. She took again her little mare and galloped over the meadow. Joshua had stayed at home. It was best for him not to ride or go far away from the convent in the next time. At least not until he was fully healthy again.

Rosette had some problems to find the right path again. But after quarter an hour she found the clearing. To her surprise he was really there, sitting on a trunk with his head leaned on his hands, his sparkling red eyes turned to her and on his lips a smile. The blonde greeted him and he said something too. Today he didn't look dirty like the last time. His clothes were tidy and his hair hung loosely down his shoulders. It reached over his waist. He took a little bag which hung on his belt. There were some cookies in it. Last time she had given him some sweets now it was his time to give her something. And she seemed really happy about that. With joy she ate them all.

"You know, the lunch today was terrible!" She said, he looked at her confused one more time understanding only 'barbarbarbar' again. "Oh sorry, I forgot you don't understand me." She apologized although it had no use because he, of cause, didn't understand that either. So they started their 'telling the names' game that they did the last time. One told the other the names of different things and the other one repeated it. The only difference was that they took a stick and painted some things on the ground this time, for example a house, a family some other animals and lots of other stuff. In the end they played charades, the game one had to show something pantomimic and the other one had to guess what it is. It was difficult but somehow they managed to understand the gestures and they had fun while playing that game.

So it went on until Chrno had to go. It was not really late in the afternoon, but obviously he couldn't stay any longer. Somehow with hands, feeds and gestures Rosette told him that they could meet every two days, but only if it was nice weather. Chrno grinned at her and disappeared behind some bushes.

Rosette took her pony and rode home. There she told Joshua that she had met Chrno again. He said that he wanted to know him too and that he would come with her the next time. The girl agreed with that. Then she played chess with Joshua until dinner was ready.

Two days later the two siblings were again at the clearing in the forest. But Chrno wasn't there this time. A little bit disappointed Rosette looked around.

"Are you sure he comes today?" Joshua asked her.

"Yeah." The blonde replied for the thousandth time now. She pushed her two braids out of her face and walked a little bit around.

"Alright. If you don't mind, I'll just go some meters over there to the little brook. I'll be back in a view minutes." He hopped over some sticks and disappeared. Rosette watched him going. Suddenly something touched her arm and she jumped around. It was Chrno smiling at her.

"Hello." He said.

"Hi. Nice to see you." Rosette smiled back and looked over her shoulder into the direction Joshua had gone. Then she called for her brother. Joshua climbed over a little hill next to the brook and hurried back to Rosette.

"What's the matter?" He asked her.

"That's Chr-… Uh? Where is he?" Rosette stuttered stunned and looked around. Nowhere was a sight of him. "Strange…" She muttered.

"Are you sure he was there?" Joshua scratched his head and brushed with his hand through the short blonde hairs.

"Yes, he was just in front of me one minute before." Where had he gone all of a sudden? Could it be that Joshua scarred him? But how could a little five years old scare another kid who was at least one or two years older? No, that couldn't be the reason. "I don't know what's with him." She shrugged her shoulders. Perhaps he comes back later." The two siblings sat down on a picnic blanket they had taken with them and made a little picnic. Rosette saw Chrno again behind a tree looking at them. "There." She told her brother. Of cause he was gone until Joshua looked and there was nothing.

"Are you sure you're alright? Are you having some hallucinations?" The blond boy frowned and looked to the tree again.

"I don't have hallus!" The girl protested loudly.

"Fine, then you are dreaming because THERE IS NOTHING."

Rosette crossed her arms and pouted. That was so mean of him to say that. And Chrno WAS real. He had touched her arm after all. Joshua lay down on the blanket and enjoyed the little bit of sun which was shining into the clearing. He sighed and started to tell something. Rosette on the other hand didn't really listen to him. She had spotted Chrno again behind the same tree she had seen him before. He shook his head that his long purple hair fluttered funny because of the movement. His finger were on his lips and he made the 'Psht – Don't tell anyone' sign again. Rosette nodded and waved goodbye.

--

Rosette had told him to come every second day, at least that was what he had understood. He would see it today when he came to the clearing. At first he had to escape, that was no hard job in the dense forest. Moreover he had found a way over the mountains which was fast if he flew. Within ten minutes he would be on the other side. The air current was always ideal. When he flew close to the ground the wind blew from behind and brought him to the other side. On his way back he had to fly a little bit higher where the current was the way around and brought him back home. Within minutes he arrived at the place where he used to land in the forest. From that place on he had to walk three minutes and then he would arrive at his destination. When he met Rosette, he always used his human form. It was saver that his real form in her presence.

Today Rosette was already there as he arrived. She was looking somewhere away from him. So he went over to her and tapped at her shoulder. After a short greeting she called for someone who was out of sight behind some other bushes. Afraid that the person there could be dangerous, for example an adult, Chrno fled away. As he looked closer after a while he saw that it was a little boy, younger than himself. He was noticed and drew back again. It was enough that only one person knew that he was there. He didn't need more people who were able to find out what he was. And in the end they would kill him. No, no, that was too dangerous. And he knew how easily little kids could tell stories to the elders. So it was the best if nothing except for her knew him here. He pshted at her the next time she looked at him and waved goodbye.


	6. I Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

From that time on Rosette didn't take Joshua with her into the forest. Chrno didn't want that and she had to respect his decisions. She also got used to taking something to write with her, a pen and some sheets of paper. Together with Chrno they wrote down the words they already knew in the other's language and this was now something like a vocabulary and grammar book for them. Fortunately they used the same letters to write, some where a very little bit different, but that wasn't important. Important was that they could read it at all. The writing utensils were also a good excuse for Rosette to go alone into the forest. She always told the others that she wanted to draw or to write something like a story or a poem. She also said that the forest inspired her and she was allowed to go there with no problems. Sometimes she really did that, but that was only in the time when she waited for Chrno. Only to Joshua she told the truth. He on the other hand thought that she was getting crazy more and more. He didn't believe her that Chrno existed and he said that he was only a fantasy friend. But with the time the girl learned to ignore these comments by Joshua.

Chrno and Rosette became friends and met every second day, just like they settled it at the beginning. Except for Joshua who didn't count because he's her brother, Chrno was her first best friend. She could tell him everything – even if he didn't understand her. But he felt it when she was happy, angered, sad etc. That friendship worked the way around as well. And he was also telling her some things which she didn't understand. But slowly they began to understand some little words and sentences like 'how are you?' and so on. It wouldn't take long until they would understand each other. The meetings between them mostly took two hours. Afterwards one of them had always to go.

But then Joshua got sick again. This time it was worse and he had to stay in the bed for a long time. Rosette had to support him and she felt like she had to protect her little brother. So she stayed with him the whole day. She did met Chrno every second day through, but she didn't stayed with him as long as she used to. The blonde was too worried about her sibling. Chrno had understood by now that something was wrong with her brother and he wasn't angry that she couldn't stay so long. One time Rosette had offered him to come with her to the convent, but he had strictly refused it. Rosette really wondered why he was so afraid of meeting other people.

At the moment she was just bringing a tray with tea up the stair to Joshua's room. There was also some chicken soup on the tray. Originally the maids were told to take care of the boy, but the girl had insisted of bringing him his food. She wanted to help him as well. Because she didn't know what else she could do, she brought him everything he wanted or she read books to him. Actually Joshua was able to read the book by himself, but Rosette felt kind of better if she was reading aloud for him. He loved such unrealistic book about brave knights fighting against monsters. The stories were nearly always the same: There was a knight, his great love was kidnapped by a monster, the knight killed the monster and married the woman, blablabla Rosette just didn't understand how he could like something like that. After the second story of this kind she would have lost interest if she had been Joshua. But he couldn't get enough of it and so she read the same stories over and over again for him.

Unfortunately Joshua's illness didn't go away. From time to time it was better, but then it was worse again. Rosette still stayed with him and in the morning she went to visit Chrno. So one year passed by and then a second one.

Then a new girl moved to the convent. She was in Joshua's age and born in a noble family as well. Her name was Azmaria. Her hair and eye colour was interesting. She was an albino; therefore she had white hairs which sparkled in a light pink sometimes and pink-red eyes. She was a friendly girl, but shy as well. Moreover she was a little bit clumsy and broke a lot of tea cups. Afterwards she always apologized a thousand times. But all in all she was a nice person and she was soon a friend of Rosette's and Joshua's. She helped Rosette dealing with Joshua's sickness and played some little games as well. The albino also took care of Joshua. Rosette had the feeling that Joshua was save with her and she decided to spend more time outside. She talked to Chrno and they said they could meet every day now. The language was no problem anymore. They had learned fast and knew at least the basics of the others languages. They only had to ask for a few words they didn't know. The kids also got used to speak sometimes in Rosette's and sometimes in Chrno's language, so they could use both.

When Rosette returned home again, she spent the time with her brother and Azmaria, whose nickname was now Asu. Azmaria didn't mind being the whole day inside with Joshua. As said before, she was more the shy and timid type of girl who rather stayed inside and read a book instead of running through the forest.

Oh, and before I forget. Joshua still didn't believe Chrno was there. He heard Rosette sometimes talk about him when they were alone without anyone else in the room. But the conversations always ended that he came to the result that this 'Chrno' was just his sister's fantasy friend.

--

Some more years had passed. Chrno was now 13 years old, Rosette 12. She was now a really good friend to him. And he was happy that he somehow managed to go over to her without anyone seeing him. At least that was what he thought. As he came back this time Aion caught up with him in the forest. He had a serious expression on his face.

"I know where you are going in the afternoon." He hissed to his twin. Shocked Chrno looked at him. He had been so sure that nobody knew it.

"You know exactly that it is prohibited! And it's dangerous there!" Aion pulled Chrno at his sleeve and turned him so they faced each other. "I don't know what you are doing on the other side, but it's not good for you. If father knows about that, you'll have so much trouble, I tell you." The white haired one warned.

"He won't know it if you don't tell him." Chrno told him and stopped the conversation.

The next time he would be more carefully, that was sure. And so he did. He didn't see, hear or feel anyone's presence. After he was sure, he turned to his right and looked for the right air currents. He found it and glided through the air. Today Rosette wanted to play hide and seek and so they did. First to seek was Chrno, and then it was her turn. So it went on until Rosette had found something at the place she was hiding. As Chrno took a closer look at the object he found out that it was a pocket watch with a broken necklace. It was old and weather-beaten. Originally it had been bronze with some golden wheels and two golden cramps at each side. It looked expensive, but it didn't work anymore. The dial was broken. Chrno took it in his hands and rubbed with his sleeve above the surface of the watch. Some dirt went away, but it had to be polished to look clean again. Time had shown its effect on it. Some parts, for example of the chain, were even rusted.

"What a pity. I think it would look nice if it was repaired." Rosettes said and bend over Chrno's hand to look at the old thing.

"If you want I can try to repair it. Or at least bring it to someone who knows how to repair it." Chrno offered her. The girl nodded and told him to do that.

At home Chrno went to one of the workmen in the neighbourhood of the castle he lived in. There he asked the older man to repair it for him. And he wanted him to do a special favour. The workman should use one of the blue dragon scales as dial. The scale was thin enough and had the right size. Plus it would surely look nice. The workman immediately started with the work and Chrno watched him while he repaired it. It would take a little bit more time to make the watch work right though and Chrno should come again at the end of the week. Until then he had to wait.

Then it was end of the week and Chrno visited Rosette again.

"Hey, shut your eyes. I have something for you."

--

Excited Rosette did what he said and closed her eyes. She felt something cold touch her skin and opened her eyes again. The pocket watch hung around her neck. It was just like new. Now it didn't look old anymore, it was polished and had a new chain to use it as a necklace. The girl examined it carefully. The dial was especially beautiful.

"That looks great!" She grinned at her friend.

"Keep it. It's for you." He smiled back. "It shall remind you of me if we have to part sometime - Not that I want that to happen."

"Awww, that's cute. Thank you." She hugged him quickly and giggled as he blushed a deep red.

"Hey, let's make a pact over it." Chrno suddenly suggested.

"What do you mean with pact?" The blonde watched him with curious eyes.

"A pact... uh just like a promise. A promise that we'll ever stay friends. And we'll swear that on the pocket watch." He grinned at her and placed his hand on the surface of the watch. "Hereby I, Chrno, swear that I will always stay your friend." He said.

Now Rosette began to grin too. "And I, Rosette, swear to stay your friend too." She placed her hand over Chrno's.

Then again they sat down on the trunk they had used to use as a bench for many years now. Suddenly a loud crash was heard behind them in the forest. Unbelievable fast Chrno jumped on his feet and looked into the direction it came from. A little bit slower Rosette followed his example as well.

"W-What's that?" She stuttered. Her question was answered as an at least three meter high creature pushed some trees away like they were thin sticks. It roared and Rosette screamed loudly. Chrno pulled her at her sleeve away from the monster thing.

The monster was as said before, very tall and it was probably a male. He had skin like a brown-beige lizard and a lizard tail. His eyes were of a bright glowing colour. The teeth were pointed, but he didn't bare them very much. On his back were some wings which looked a little bit like the ones of a flying dinosaur. Rosette had never seen something like this before. He really scarred her and she knew that the demon could kill her with only one single movement. Instead of doing that he made himself ready to jump.

Chrno still was right beside her and pulled her behind him like he wanted to protect her. In contrast to her he didn't seemed as scared as she was, still scared but not that much. Together they went backwards. That was when Rosette stumbled over her too long dress and fell down.

The monster thing hissed something and jumped forwards. Chrno tried to cringe, but he was caught at his suspenders by the big devil's claw. (AN: He really has to get rid of these suspenders XD) The monster spread its wings and took off. Rosette screamed and tried to get a hold of Chrno's hand, but too fast he was to far away. He shouted her name and tried to struggle himself out of the devil's firm grip. It had no use and soon they were so high that Rosette didn't see them anymore. Like frozen she sat at the place where she had fallen on the ground. Her arms had stopped moving midair and her hand balled a fist. Slowly tears started to come to her eyes and rolled down her cheek. Her best friend was just kidnapped by a demon, darnit! And she hadn't been able to prevent it. With shaking legs she got up and run into the direction the demon had flown. She never ever saw the monster again. After some hours she gave up looking for them and walked home. She had to walk because the stupid horse immediately turned around and fled away as it saw the scaring creature.

Exhausted the blonde arrived at the convent and told Sister Kate who was the first person she met that she had met a big evil devil in the forest. She also told her that he had taken Chrno with him. Joshua as well had come because he had heard his sister cry. So she had to tell the story again. Some maids brought her to her room afterwards to rest.

Meanwhile Sister Kate talked to Joshua. He said that he didn't know who Chrno was and that he assumed that he only was Rosette's fantasy friend. Nevertheless Kate sent some of her best exorcists to the clearing the girl had described her. There were no tracks of a devil being there. No destroyed trees nothing like that. She even asked in the neighbourhood if someone knew or had seen Chrno. Nobody did. So Sister Kate as well assumed that everything had happened in Rosette's fantasy. Rosette on the other hand was protested and said it had been real. In the end she even was brought to a psychologist who tried to help her. All his attempts to do so were useless.

Couldn't they just believe her? Why didn't they?! They didn't even try hard enough to find Chrno! Rosette was angry with everybody. And she hadn't imagined that all, only to get attention or something like that the others said. Pah! They didn't know anything! She let herself sadly plop onto her bed and looked at the pocket watch around her neck. The dial sparkled again beautiful in the light. There! She even had a proof that it all was true! The watch! Now that was the only thing that reminded her of him. She closed her hand tightly around it.

"It will always remember me of you when we have to part."

_**END PART**__** I**_

--

_If I tell you, will you listen, will you stay?_

_Will you be here forever, never go away?_

_Never thought things would change, hold me tight_

_Please don't say again that you have to go..._

_A bitter thought_

_I had it all_

_But I just let it go_

_Hold your silence_

_It's so violent since you're gone..._

_All my thoughts are with you forever_

_Until the day we'll be back together_

_I will be waiting for you..._

_If I had told you, you would've listened, you had stayed_

_You would be here forever, never went away_

_It would never have been all the same, all our time_

_Would have been in vain, 'cause you had to go..._

_The sweetest thought_

_Had it all_

_'Cause I did let you go_

_All our moments keep me warm_

_When you're gone..._

_All my thoughts are with you forever_

_Until the day we'll be back together_

_I will be waiting for you..._

_lyrics by Within Temptation (bittersweet)_

**AN:** Awww, such a beautiful song. I thought it would fit here^^ I heard it nearly all the time while writing the chapter. Anyway, that was chapter 6 and the end of part I. Uh yeah, if you should wonder or if you over read it: Rosette still doesn't know that Chrno's a devil, alright? Please review and tell me how it was.


	7. II Chapter 7

_**PART II:**_

**Chapter 7:**

The first time after the incident in the forest was hard for Rosette. If that wasn't enough, everybody thought that she had imagined all and was crazy in her head. Of cause she wasn't. In the first few weeks she always went in the woods hoping that she would find a clue where the demon had taken Chrno. But she never did. The people already started to tell rumours about her. She herself found out that it was useless to continue looking for him. So the girl stopped doing that. After a while she even began to believe the things her psychologist was telling her, that it was all in her fantasy. She really started to believe that, but there was nevertheless an empty space within her which couldn't be filled again. Every time she was alone that feeling came up again and made her feel sad and lonely. Rosette just tried to be always with others. Fortunately there were Joshua and Azmaria who diverted her from her thoughts. The three almost always spent their free time inside. Since Joshua was still sick sometimes it was better that way. But when it was nice weather and Joshua was okay they sat outside in the yard around the well.

So one year passed, by then another, a third and a half. Rosette was now 15 1/2years, Joshua 14 1/2 and Azmaria nearly 14. Soon the time would come that they had to leave the convent again to live in their family houses as young ladies and gentleman. One day a messenger came from far away. He had two letters for the two blonde siblings and as well two for Azmaria. One was written by their parents who told them that the children, no not anymore, that the teenagers were supposed to move away and that they would come to pick them up. Actually the youth were surprised that the letters came so early. Only two days before Sister Kate had told them that they had a 3/4 year left. Now the letter said that they have to go during the following two days. The reason for that was explained at the end of the letter and in the second letter. Rosette who held the letter in her hands began to read while the others listened to her.

_Dear Lady Rosette and __Lord Joshua,_

_With deep sadness we announce your uncle's, King Victor Carl Alexander Augustus Caesar Friedrich William Ludwig VII's, death. (AN: What a name XD) He was cruelly murdered in the night of August the 30__th__. (AN: lol, my B-day XD) You and your dear family are invited to come to his funeral on Sunday September the 5__th__. Your resident will be in the royal palace where you will stay for the moment. King VII didn't have any children who would be able to be his successor. His wife also died because of a sickness a while ago. You father, Lord Vinsent is the dead king's only close relative, so he will be announced as the new King of our dear kingdom. Consequently you will be announced as the new crown prince Joshua and crown princess Rosette._

_Long live the new king_

_The senate_

(AN: Sorry, I'm really bad writing letters like that ." I could write it in German, but in English it's more difficult.)

Azmaria's letter was a little but different, but actually it said the same. The king was dead, Lord Vinsent would be the new king and Joshua and Rosette the new crown prince and princess.

With an open mouth all three teenager stared at the sheet of paper in front of them.

"C-crown princess?" Rosette stammered. Never ever in her life she had expected something like that to happen. She in the royal palace? They had to get all the expensive stuff there far away from her before she was able to destroy it! She knew exactly that she was too wild to be kept in the palace and that she would break something, earlier or later. Moreover she had heard that the palace was in the middle of Soronada, the capital city. There would be no forest around, no meadows, no brooks, no nature. Only the huge buildings and the branched streets. Would she even fit into such a city? Now that she was used to this life here? Exactly that was the point. Perhaps that change would help her to forget about Chrno. She still dreamed of the day he had been kidnapped and probably killed by that devil. The thought always made her sad and she didn't want that sadness anymore. So she had tried to forget everything. But a strong part in her refused to do so. Now she hoped that the new situation would help her. Internal she scolded her again, because she had thought about him once more. She touched the watch which had never left its place around her neck. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. Azmaria asked her if something was wrong because Rosette's look in her eyes was so empty again. Quickly the blonde shook her head and answered with a smile and an "Everything's alright." Then they started to chat about the topic. They all agreed that it was sad that the king died, but especially Joshua looked forward to his new life as crown prince.

In the afternoon they hurried around, packing their luggage and choosing what they should take with them and what could stay here. All in all they needed the whole rest of the day. In the night Rosette slept restlessly. She woke up a thousand times and one time she dreamed about Chrno again. In the dream she was in her twelve years old body again, with a nice dress and her two braids. She went through woods to the clearing. Chrno was already here and greeted her. "Hello, Rozetto." His pronunciation of her name was always funny. Either he said 'Rozetto' with 'z' and an 'o' or 'Rozetta' with a 'z' and an 'a'. (An: That's the Japanese pronunciation, isn't it? It sounds so funny ^^) He had a funny accent when he talked in her language at all. Anyways. It was one of these dreams in which she was running towards him, but he never reached at his place. She ran and ran, but it seemed only further away in the end. Chrno waved at her and made his 'Psht' gesture. Then he was caught by two claws, everything went back and Rosette woke up again. She sat in her bed and closed her eyes tightly. 'I am not allowed to get weak now.' She told herself ran with her hand over her face. Afterwards she tried to sleep again, but it didn't work right. From time to time she fell into a kind of half sleep. The next day Rosette was as tired as hell and she wasn't very pleased as a maid woke her up to tell her that her parents had arrived yet. The girl got dressed and went downstairs into the entrance hall. Her and Joshua's luggage stood there. Some servants just brought it outside. At the left side there were a group of people chatting with each other. Rosette could see the headnun, Azmaria, two other rich adults (obviously Asu's parents) and her own parents. She hurried over to them and gave each of them a hug. Her parents were happy to see her again. Normally they had only had time to come and visit their children the weekends, but not always, and at important holidays. Her mother, an about 35 years old woman with shoulder long brown hair, brushed with her hand through Rosette's golden locks and told her again how happy she was that she saw her again. Rosette replied the same and talked a little bit to her father who was a 37 years old tall blonde man. She asked him where Joshua was. Her brother apparently had overslept and was too late. They had to wait for him a little while. In this time Azmaria introduced her her parents, a small woman with short locks and a middle aged short haired man. The man was an important business man, so his family was invited to the funeral as well. Finally Joshua showed up and everyone got into the waiting carriages. There were three of them. One for Azmaria and her family, one for the siblings and their maids and another one for their parents.

…

"When are we there?" Rosette asked and looked out of the window. Until now she hadn't seen something interesting, only bushes and trees or grass.

"Soon, Miss Rosette. It will take a while." Her maid answered gently.

Five minutes later:

"Are we there?"

"Soon, Miss Rosette."

"And now?"

"I'll go take the muffins." The other maid said annoyed and leaned behind the bench to take some muffins out of the box with food. Immediately Rosette was quiet and ate happily her muffin.

"Surprising that the same trick works still after ten years." The annoyed maid whispered to her colleague.

(AN: I hope you remember the carriage scene in Chapter 1)

…

It was a long journey and they had to overnight one time in a very expensive hotel and the other time they overnighted in a mansion which belonged to Azmaria's family. All in all the journey took three days. (AN: I hope the annoyed maid has enough muffins for Rosette) In the evening of the third day they finally arrived at the capital. The sun already hung low over the horizon and it made everything have a warm orange colour. After they had passed the huge city gate where there were a lot of guards, they were now on their way to the palace. The carriage would bring them there.

Excited Rosette and Joshua looked out of the window. They had never been in such a huge city. Actually they had always been in the convent, none of them remembered the time before; that was too long ago. Anyways they were amazed by the big amount of houses and they wondered how so many people could live here. In every corner were people who watched the carriages with big eyes or who waved to them. Shyly the two siblings waved back sometimes.

The city was round and it had some different areas which were arranged like rings. In the outermost ring the rather poor people lived. Closer to the centre the houses got bigger and more expensive. Between the rather poor and the richer area there was the place where the market and all shops were. This area was relatively big and the carriage needed nearly ten minutes to cross it.

For Rosette it was really interesting to see how other people lived. In the market area she looked at the little shops and the goods they sold there. She also found it funny how the people were looking at her. Everybody looked at her… except for one person. It was a young man, not really a lot older than her. He wore one of these dark cloaks which covered his clothes. The hood of the cape simply hung down at his back. Because he stood in the shadow of a house Rosette didn't really saw what hair colour he had, but it was dark hair and it reached to his shoulders. He looked to something in his hand. As well the object in his hand was not seen from the point where Rosette was. A smaller crowd of people was in front of him. Suddenly he looked up and stared her in the eyes, but only for a second and with no expression. Then he immediately turned around and vanished in the crowd.

Rosette gasped nearly imperceptible. His hair shimmered purple in the late evening sun. And she would never forget these red sparkling eyes, Chrno's red sparkling eyes more specifically. The girl stared with an open mouth outside and gripped the pocket watch again. Three seconds or later she noticed that she had to look very stupid and all the people saw her like that. She quickly turned away from the window and stared to the floor of the carriage.

"Is something wrong, Milady?" One of the maids asked. "Aren't you feeling well?"

"I… am… just a little bit tired… that's all." She let herself sink into the upholstery of the bench and began to think. (AN: Duh! She is able to think! Duh! XDDD) How was that possible? So he did survive? He was living all the time? Why hadn't he tried to tell her she didn't need to worry? Well, that meant if it even was him. Nonsense. How many people were there with purple hair and red eyes? And the age fit as well. The girl sighed. That was too much for her. At first she got a letter that she was the new crown princess and now that.

--

And now a song again:

_Restless_

_She embraced, with a smile_

_As she opened the door._

_A cold wind blows, it put´s a chill into her heart._

_You have taken away the trust,_

_you´re the ghost haunting through her heart._

_Past and present are one in her head,_

_You´re the ghost haunting through her heart._

_Take my hand as I wonder through,_

_All my life I gave to you._

_Take my hand as I wonder through,_

_All my love I gave to you._

_You have taken away the trust,_

_you´re the ghost haunting through her heart._

_Take my hand as I wonder through,_

_All my life I gave to you._

_Take my hand as I wonder through,_

_All my love I gave to you_

_By Within Temptation_

**AN: **Sorry because there are so much AN's in this chapter, but I couldn't hold me back XD And as you can see I hear a lot of WT while writing… You will see more song lyrics under the chapters of this fanfic ^^' Anyways, the next chapters will all be in Rosette's view. But what happened to Chrno during all the time? Hehe, I know it and you do not!!! Mwhahahaha! And I won't tell you… yet. Please review^^


	8. II Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

In the evening the carriages arrived in front of the royal palace. An employee in a black suit came and opened the door of the carriages. The passengers got out. There was a long red carpet which led over to a staircase of white marble. There were a lot of stairs in front of the door, perhaps about 30 stairs. The huge dark wooden front double door was on top of the stairs. The door was decorated with some ornaments. Two marble pillars were on each side of it. Rosette couldn't believe how big the building was, it was the biggest one she had ever seen. In contrast to this, the convent seemed like a little hut. So that was where she was supposed to live from now on. She looked over to her brother who was grinning widely at her. She smiled lightly back. Together with the others she went up the stairs and two other employees opened the door for them.

The entrance hall was long and at the end there were two staircases, one of each side. On the wall the stairs had a curve and led to something that looked like a little balcony with a big door behind it and a second door under it. The floor of the entrance hall was so much polished that you could nearly mirror in it. At the left and the right side there were high windows with dark red curtains bordering them. Between the windows there were either some plants or some sculptures. They looked really expensive. Rosette only hoped that she wouldn't destroy some of them by accident…

One of the employees asked them to follow him; he would show them their rooms. He also explained to them where the two doors led to. The one under the balcony led into the garden and the one on the balcony led into the first floor where the dining room and some offices were. In the second floor there were the bedrooms and some of the many bathrooms. They passed a lot of corridors. Nearly in all corridors there were pictures of earlier kings and queens. And there were a lot of these pictures.

Slowly Rosette began to worry if she would even find her own room without someone helping her or if she would find any other room she was looking for. She wondered how often she would lose her way in here. The employee showed them their rooms and went to call some help to bring the luggage upstairs. Meanwhile Rosette went to her own bathroom which was directly connected to her room. There she took a nice bath and enjoyed the warm water. Afterwards some maids came and helped Rosette changing in a new fresh dress. It was really difficult to put on these dresses if you were alone. (AN: That's right. One time I wore one of these dresses. I nearly couldn't move and my only question was: How am I supposed to go to the toilet with this thing?! XD)

Dinner would be in half an hour, so there was still a little bit time. Rosette used that time to examine her new room. It was of cause bigger than her old room and it had everything in it she could think of. There was a big bed, a wardrobe, a desk, book shelves, a big mirror, a make-up table with a smaller mirror and much more. The room had three windows, one was next to the bed, one over the desk and the other one between the wardrobe and the shelves. The curtains had a light blue colour. In the wardrobe there were already some new dresses and some new jewelery, obviously as a welcoming present. "Oh my… that wouldn't have been necessary… I mean they're so expensive. This is… wow." The blonde muttered as one of the maids showed her the different dresses.

"Don't you like them?" The maid asked shyly.

"Of cause I like them! But I kinda think that's too much… I'm not used to have this much attention." Rosette quickly said and took a closer look at the dresses.

"Well, you will have very much attention in the next time. You should get used to it, princess Rosette." The maid bowed and hung the dresses back into the wardrobe. In this time Rosette went to the window and looked outside. Perhaps there was something interesting. She didn't see much. She could see a little bit over the city when she looked out of the window next to the shelves. The window over the desk showed the yard and through the last window she could see the palace garden. The plants there were well cared and the bushed were cut like a little labyrinth with a round place with a statue in its centre. There were also some bushes in funny forms, for example a horse which only stand on its back legs. Rosette started to miss her old forest. Here, far away from that place, everything seemed unnatural.

Azmaria came over to her for a visit and both chatted until it was time to go to the dining room. On their way they met two other girls. They were sisters and as well daughters of a rich family who was invited to the funeral. One of them was rather the shy type of girl. Her name was Florette and she didn't speak much. Her hair was shoulder long and dark brown as well as her eyes. Today she wore a violet dress. Her younger sister, Sathella, was the complete opposite of her. She was very self-confident and seemed to be a little bit arrogant. The hair was really really long and of a red brown colour. Her dress was green with a little bit yellow. It also was low-necked and emphasized her breasts. (AN: witchy-bitchy XD I know, I know, I'm ruining the atmosphere with these ANs. I promise I'm quiet…) Both sisters wore a lot jewellery. Their father was an important jewellery trader who was famous for his good quality. All rich women bought got their jewels from him. And of cause they paid a lot for it. So it hadn't taken a long until Sathella's and Florette's family was richer then the most families. Sathella also said that the necklace Rosette was wearing at the moment was as well design and made by her father. The two sisters had arrived at the palace earlier than Rosette, Joshua, Asu and the others. So they showed them the way to the dining room. In the said room there was a long table with a lot of food on it.

"Hey, Rosette, that's your heaven, isn't it?" Joshua whispered to her and chuckled.

"Oh, yeah… you say it." She confirmed his words and was already thinking of what she should eat first. The chicken looked really delicious.

At one end of the table Rosette's parents sat. The two blonde siblings took a seat next to them. The evening was actually quite nice. After dinner which tasted very good everybody chatted with someone and everybody was having fun. Lord Vinsent asked one of the consultants how his brother had died. Within seconds all conversations died and all people at the table look at the consultants. The eldest of them got up from his chair and cleared his throat. "In the morning of August the 30th, one of the servants found our dear king dead in his room. He was cruelly murdered with a dagger piercing his back. A letter was found next to him. It was written on expensive paper and it was written in a language we don't understand. At the moment all our scholars work on a translation. Unluckily they haven't been able to find out what it means yet. The dagger as well was of expensive material. We have never seen such a dagger before."

"Do you know who the murderer is?" Someone asked from the other end of the table. The consultant shook his head. "We weren't able to find any trace. The dagger is here. Something's written on it, as well in a foreign language." He gave a dagger to the man who sat beside him and he passed it to the ones who were sitting next to him. Finally the dagger arrived at Rosette's place. She turned it around in her hand. It was a beautiful thing. In the handle there were some rubies and the blade was nearly white. There was something engraved. The foreign words which were written there reminded her of something. She thought for a moment and the words came to a sense. "Sanguis bene gustat, sanguis regificus melius gustat" In other words: _'Blood tastes good, royal blood tastes better!' _That was what was written there. Gasping she looked down at the weapon in her hand. Should she tell someone that she was able to read that? The others had said that they didn't know what it meant after all. She could help them understand it. But then all the attention was at her and they would ask her why she could read that and then she had to tell the story about her '_fantasy friend'_ and nobody would believe her and she would be said again. So she decided to keep it as a secret. The girl looked around and saw the others mumble something to each other. The most people began to suggest who the murderer was. But no one came to a useful result.

At about eleven o'clock the younger ones went to bed because they were still a little bit tired because of the long journey. Rosette told the others to go ahead. She had something to do. The blonde asked the first maid she saw where the library was. She sneaked in there and found an old man sitting their, his head bowed over a sheet of paper. She went to him and asked him if that was the letter found next to the king.

"Yes, my dear. It is." He answered. "Why do you want to know?"

"I uhm…" She thought for a moment. "I heard it was in another language."

"Yes that's right." The man replied and bowed over the paper again, looking through a magnifying glass. "Could you perhaps stay here for a moment? It will just take a minute. I have to go and take another book. Then we can go on talking. I'll be back in a few minutes."

That had worked better than expected. As soon as the man wasn't able to see her anymore she took an empty sheet of paper and a pen nib which was lying on the desk. Then she quickly copied the letter. Fortunately it wasn't very long and so she was done just one second before the man came back again with a lot of books in his arm.

"I'm sorry, but it's already late. I have to go now. Good night." Rosette said goodbye and hurried over to her room. The man hadn't seen the sheet of paper she had taken with her; it was folded and hidden in her sleeve. Rosette lightened two candles on her desk and began to read through the letter. Before she could translate it she went to a big box next to the wardrobe. She opened the lid and looked for something. In the end she took out some papers.

They were old and Rosette could recognize her style of writing as it had been when she had been a little child. They were the papers she had written down the grammar and vocabulary Chrno had told her. To her surprise she still nearly knew everything and she only need to look on the grammar for one time. The letter was a threat to the next king. It was something about a coming war. That meant that it was really important that the others knew what the letter said. Happy that she hadn't forgotten the language she wrote her translation on another paper. When she was done she read through it once again and corrected smaller mistakes.

_You stole the land once owned by us_

_Time doesn't forget_

_Time doesn't stop_

_Not even for you_

_Your time has come_

_Give back that isn't yours _

_A war is coming, it's time_

_This time you won't win_

_God can't help you now_

_Don't even try to fight_

_It's worthless._

Yeah, that was okay like this, Rosette decided. She left her room again and went to the library. With a thread she tied the paper on the door handle and disappeared quickly in her room again. She also hoped that she had done the right thing. But the language had reminded her of Chrno again. Great, now she would have nightmares this night.

**AN: **the letter should be a little preview of what is coming next. Please Review and tell me how the chapter was. Oh and I tried to translate this "Sanguis bene gustat, sanguis regificus melius gustat"… But I'm not good in the translation from German/English to Latin… I can only translate it from Latin to German/English. That's everything what I learned in school this year. So I'm absolutely not sure if this sentence in Latin is even right…


	9. II Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

The next morning was the dead king's funeral.

They all went into a big cathedral which was build directly next to the palace. The cathedral was really big, with bid colourful windows and nearly the whole city was in there. Rosette didn't count the bench rows, but there were a lot of them. In the front there was the altar with some ornaments. Next to it the big white coffin stood, covered with flowers.

A bishop held the mass. He told some stories about the king and prayed for his immortal soul. Then he did the other things which are supposed to be part of such a mass, Afterwards some important commanders and generals stepped to the coffin and carried it to the catacombs under the church where all kings and queens were buried.

Only the closest relatives were allowed to go down there, which meant Rosette's family and the family of her father's sister. A steep sandstone spiral staircase led down the caves under the church. It was said that these catacombs built a wide branched corridor system under the whole capital plus its surroundings. In the catacombs it was dark. Only a few candles and torches lightened them up. They dipped everything into a creepy orange flattering light. The high amount of spider nets and dust testified to that nobody went down here so often. Some of the statues and ornaments were already grey because of the dust and in one corner there was a small bat family with about four animals.

To Joshua it seemed to be really interesting here. He looked carefully at all the ornaments on the walls or coffins or the tapestry which hung at the end of the corridor. Under it was something like a little altar with a Maria Statue. It should protect the souls of the deceased so they could rest in peace.

The people's steps reverberate loudly because of the flat stony walls. Finally the coffin was pushed into its place in the wall next to the coffin of the king before. Everybody watched it in silence and prayed.

Suddenly Rosette's aunt shrieked because one of the bats flew into her hair and the woman ran screaming around in a circle while shouting something like "Take it away! Take the beast away! It wants to eat me!". Both, Rosette and Joshua had to suppress their laughter therefore. It would be totally inappropriate in such a place like this. It was a funeral after all. 'Cause the woman didn't stop crying Rosette just took one step forward and caught the bat as her aunt ran towards her. Immediately the bat spread its little wings and flew to its friends.

Exhausted the woman stopped running around and hold her hand to her head. "Thanks God, you got the beast. I really thought it wanted to kill me!" Joshua and Rosette both giggled lightly, but they only earned a strict look of their father. Quickly they put on the serious faces. Then the people left the catacombs again.

Lunch would be soon and afterwards Vinsent would be announced as the new king. For that occasion Rosette decided to wear one of the new dresses. It was a very light blue with short sleeves. The corset matching to it was beige with a blue pattern on it. She also wore some arm warmers and a choker in the same colour. The shoes reached to her knees and were laced at the front. Her hair which had grown much in the last time was in a waist long blonde braid. (AN: I gave her a little bit longer hair, about the length she has at the end of the Manga)

Lunch was finished within half an hour and the citizens crowded in front of the staircase to the front door of the palace. The first consultant stepped forward, so everybody was able to see him, and held a speech. Then a young employee hurried over to him and brought the crown on a dark red cushion. Vinsent knelt down beside it. The consultant held the crown up in the air and said something. Vinsent repeated the oath every king had to swear. Then the man put the crown on Vinsent's head. The crowd below them cheered. The new king held a speech to his land and promised them to protect and defend them whatever would happen. He wanted his people to be happy and he would do everything to reach that goal.

His wife and his two children also got some crowns and the people cheered again. But their crowns were a little bit smaller and the crowns for the females were more elegant. Rosette had a queasy in her stomach. So many people looked at her. And of cause they would expect different things from her. Was she able to handle that all? To fulfil all expectations? Nobody had told her what she had to do as a crown princess and she was a little bit worried because of that.

After the ceremony there was a big party in the palace with all important people. Everyone wanted to talk to the new royal family. There were so many new people, so many unknown faces, so many names. Soon Rosette got a headache of all that. But she was happy that her friends stayed at her side and she could talk to them as well.

"So, what are you planning to do now?" Sathella asked her.

"What do you mean by that?" Rosette asked confused back.

"Well, I mean you have a lot of power now, you know. You can do whatever you want. Isn't there something you ever wanted to do? Now you can do it." The redhead replied. Rosette thought for a moment but shook her head. "At the moment I can't think of such a thing."

A young man came and asked Sathella for a dance. She smiled, took his hand and vanished in the crowd. Joshua and Azmaria were as well dancing together somewhere. Florette stood next to her father and talked to him.

"Great. And what am I supposed to do now?" Rosette pouted and crossed her arms. She looked around but she didn't find anyone she could or wanted to talk too.

"Excuse me, Miss. Do you want something to eat? A cookie perhaps?" A butler asked and held a tray with some cookies to her.

"Oh, sure." Rosette grinned and took the whole tray out of his hands.

…

Suddenly the old man from the library burst into the room. With a shaking hand he held the translation Rosette had written to Vinsent. The new king asked what that is.

"I found that translation, milord." The elder answered with a nervous voice.

"You found it?" Vinsent narrowed his eyes and looked down to him

"Yes, it was tied to the library door, Sir. It's very important. They announce a war!" The man squeaked.

"Who is announcing a war?!" Vinsent wanted to know, shocked.

"I don't know, milord."

Immediately all consultants came. They and the king went into a separate room to discuss the letter.

Rosette was proud of herself, but she didn't show it to the outside. Glad that she had been able to help she turned her attention to the cookies again.

Later in the evening the consultants needed a break and an opera should be shown to honour the new King Vinsent I. His favourite opera was "Phantom of the Opera" (AN: WhisperingLotus?!!!! I still don't get rid of it… But I need that for later). So that was shown in the big theatre room of the palace. (AN: I slowly wonder how many rooms there are in this palace thing XD). Rosette, Joshua and their parents got the best seats on the balcony on the right side. From that point the stage was perfectly seen and the sound there was great. The orchestra began to play and the persons on the stage started to sing and act. Although Rosette had seen the opera at least ten times before, she stilled loved it and was amazed by the beautiful voices. These actors were really good singers. Down on the stage they were just playing the title song with the funny organ intro at the moment. After the song the audience applauded and the next scene started.

Like this the show went on. Now Rosette's favourite song was played. It was called 'Point of no return' and it was a duet between Christine and the phantom. The phantom just sang the last lines of his part and vanished with Christine through a hole in the stage. Then the small chandelier fell down on the stage like it was supposed to do in that scene. (AN: The song is cool and I love the chandelier scene). Automatically Rosette looked up to the real big chandelier over the audience. What she saw there scarred her. The huge chandelier swung a little from the left to the right and suddenly its fixing broke. Like the small chandelier on the stage, the bigger one fell down and crashed on the ground.

Like in slow motion Rosette saw it happen. The rope on which the chandelier was tied looked like someone had cut it and it only hung on one thread. The chandelier fell down. The people began to look up to the ceiling. But the only thing they saw was the huge thing coming towards them. Loudly it crashed on the ground and its glass decoration broke into a thousand pieces. At some parts the chandelier even broke. The men and women who had sat under it were now buried by it. The ones who were only injured were lucky. The most people who sat in that area were killed and pierced by the chandelier. Only a few one had been able to jump out of the way. There was a silence after the thing had crashed on the ground. It didn't last long. Everywhere were heard panic screams of people who called for their friends or relatives. Vinsent told some of the guards to help the people and to take the all doctors and healers they could find over there. Some soldiers should help to get the people free who were trapped under the chandelier.

Unfortunately that was more difficult as it was said. Like the name says it was a chandelier and on a chandelier are usually candles and they burn. The candles burned the seats and the fire spread out. Soon the whole room was an ocean of flames. All people were fleeing out of the hall and there was a huge chaos.

Someone took Rosette at her hand and pulled her outside. It was her mother. Rosette held her mother's hand tightly so she wouldn't get separated from her family which could be really easy in this chaos. They came to the entrance hall and suddenly one of the generals ran to them. He told them that there were lots of demons outside, attacking the palace. He also asked Vinsent what he was supposed to do now and what he should tell his soldiers.

Rosette's father gave him some instructions. He commanded some soldiers to protect his family while he himself was busy with the current situation. Then he went away with the general. The mother, Joshua and Rosette stayed back for a moment. Outside they heard something crash loudly. A window had exploded and a fireball was shot inside. A winged creature crawled in the room and roared. The crowd of people who was trapped inside stormed through the big front door. That was not really intelligent because there were already some devils awaiting them.

Fortunately Rosette was able to grip Florette's and Sathella's sleeve as they passed by her. Joshua had found Azmaria as well. The soldiers who should protect them proposed to take the way through the catacombs to get out of the building. Suddenly the soldier who had spoken was brushed away by a huge strong arm which belonged to an at least 6 meter high monster. All screamed. Quickly Rosette and the others hurried away from that place. The remaining soldiers wanted to show them the way through the catacombs. The catacombs had five entrances, one in the cathedral, one in the library of the palace, one in the city and two beyond the city in the surrounding forest. If they were able to reach them, they were safe for the moment.

Rosette felt a warmth. Terrified she noticed that everywhere in the palace were little fires. Either caused by the fire in the theatre room or caused by burning arrows or fireballs.

**AN: **Wow… actually all this was supposed to happen in chapter 8 not in chapter 9… *grin* doesn't matter, now I have one chapter more =D And I had to rewrite the chapter a thousand times ." But finally there's some action! DEMON ATTACK!!! YAY!!! You see I am very bored that I write such stuff XDDD


	10. II Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:** (Wow, I wrote ten chapters in only one week)

A woman all dressed up in white stood on a hill next to the city. It was higher than the place where the capital was placed. So she had a perfect view over the whole chaos underneath. She always stood there, watching the city and awaiting the inevitable. Today it seemed that it was time for exactly this inevitable. At first there was a loud crash then people began o scream. Awaken Mary looked down. Then something was heard behind her at the horizon. In the dark night sky she was able to recognize the silhouettes of flying demons, their wings covering the full moon. There was no time anymore to build a holy barrier around the city and so the devils stormed into it. Only an hour afterwards the whole city burned with bright yellow orange flames which were meters high. The people who managed to get out of the city walls were fleeing away, taking the way which lead to the southeast. "So it finally has begun." Mary mumbled sad. "Do your job well, Rosette. Or our kingdom will fall."

--

The soldiers led Rosette, Joshua, their mother, Azmaria, Sathella and Florette through the burning corridors and hallways. They were supposed to take the way through the catacombs to get out of the city. That was the safest way. The entrances to the catacombs were well hidden and therefore the demons wouldn't be able to find them so soon. One of these entrances was in the library. It was behind a smaller bookshelf, more exactly the sixth bookshelf on the left. You had to push a special stone in the brick wall so the shelf should swung open like a door. Well, what would a middle-aged palace be without some secret ways and corridors, he? But at first they had to know where these secret ways were and where the entrances were. One of the soldiers told them quickly where to find it and how to open it – Just in case they would be separated.

Because the palace was so big they needed a lot time to run to their destination. Plus everywhere there were demons, devils and monsters. They blocked the way and the group had to take another way. Slowly the amount of soldiers and guards who should protect Rosette's family and the others reduced. One time Sathella was too close to one of the enemies. So she aimed and kicked him in the stomach. He bowed down and groaned.

"Yay for high heels!" Sathella cheered before hurrying away to catch up with the other who were already some meters away. Unluckily their time ran out by every second they would stay in the palace. The fire spread out fast. Plus the houses in the neighbourhood were already burning. The attackers also brought new fire and burned down some other parts of the city. One of their favourite aims was the palace and the cathedral.

The corridor the group was running through was already burning at some parts. The ceiling beams already made some croaking sounds. They would break soon. Therefore there weren't so many demons in this area. Then there was another corridor which lead into the corridor Rosette and the others were running along.

Suddenly Rosette stumbled and cursed. She jumped on her feet again. Just in this moment a burning beam from the ceiling crashed down between her and the rest of the little group. The beam blocked the way and separated her from her family and friends. She heard her mother scream her name, but the flames already were so high that the blonde wasn't able to see through them on the other side.

A devil came from the left. Rosette recognized him, she would always recognize him. He was tall, had wings, a tail and lizard skin. It was the monster who had kidnapped Chrno years ago. By the sight of the devil tears started to prickle in her eyes. She felt a rage coming up in her.

The devil roared at her. The girl was unarmed; she couldn't do anything at the moment. So she did the only possible thing: Screaming loudly, spinning around and running away. The devil pursued her. It chased her down different ways. Rosette didn't know where the ways were leading to, she just ran ahead. Behind her she heard the scratching of the devil's claws and wings at the walls and the floor. It was an unpleasant sound, just like someone was scratching over a blackboard with her or his fingernails. Quickly Rosette shot some glares over her shoulder. The demon didn't want to stop chasing her. But he never came too close to her. He was about five meters away from her and it always stayed in this distance, although Rosette wished that there were more distance between them.

But in any case the devil's behaviour was really strange. Then the blonde found the sense in that. He tried to chase her to a special place. Soon she found herself running through some big doors into the yard. She tried to close the door before the monster was coming, but with only on slap he beat the door open and the girl staggered back. He roared again and began to chase her one more time. He led her towards the garden. There was nobody, everybody tried to flee away and so everybody tried to get out at the front door or some smaller door at the sides. But here in the centre of the palace was of cause nobody. They all knew that they would be trapped in here.

Great so nobody was there to help her and she saw herself already lying dead in the garden. She shook her head and tried to have some optimistic thoughts. She could make it. The probability wasn't very high, but it was there. The devil behind her roared again and Rosette speeded up. Then she arrived in the garden. The way was bordered by a brick wall on the one side and by tall bushes on the other side. Perhaps she could jump through the bushes away from the monster? But at a closer look the bushes seemed too thick. In the time she needed to go through them the devil would have already caught up with her. Suddenly a loud sound was heard behind her. The blonde shot a glare over her shoulder while continuing running.

There was a fallen burning tree trunk between her and the monster. It had just crashed down and had stopped the demon. But why didn't he use its wings to fly over the tree? Instead of doing that he turned around and left in the other direction. Alriiiight, either the devil was really really really stupid or it was his job to her to this place. She, who was still running, turned her head around again to look there she was running. Exactly to the right time she stopped. She came to stand and rowed with her arms to keep balance.

A white sword was pointed at her. Only centimetres were missing until it would touch her throat. Heavily breathing she looked to the one who was holding the sword. It was a young man with dark shoulder long hair and glowing golden eyes. On his forehead were three rubies. Two long ivory horns stuck out of his head. On his back there were two big spread black bat-wings. His clothes were dark as well; he was wearing some long trousers and a shirt without sleeves. He held the sword relaxed in his left hand. Uh? He was left handed? His face was with not emotion. Rosette couldn't tell what he was thinking. But she knew what SHE was thinking. And that was that she was really afraid now because he would kill her in less than a minute. Both didn't move for a while. The palace was burning in the background, some screams and roars were heard. But they just didn't move.

Suddenly the demon narrowed his eyes and strained his muscles. Rosette closed her eyes tightly, awaiting the final strike.

As nothing happened she opened her eyes again. The demon had lowered the sword and was looking to his left on the ground while his hair covered his eyes. Rosette didn't believe what just happened. Did he just… let her go?! She took a step away from him. He didn't move. She went on the right side around him, the only way which was left since the other was blocked with a burning tree. He still didn't move, but their eyes met and that stopped her for a second. There was something in his eyes, she couldn't tell what it was. A loud crash which came from a building close to them brought Rosette back to reality and she started running away. He turned around to watch her running. Then he flew away.

Rosette hurried through the garden. Panting she placed her hand on her waist. That was way too much running, especially with a stupid corset with which she couldn't breath right.

Because there weren't any enemies at the moment she slowed down for a while. Fortunately she knew where she had to go now. As she reached at the door she had been looking for she noticed shocked that everything was burning. She took all her courage and kicked the door open. Behind it was the library. Yellow and orange flames were eating the expensive books. The air was already dark because of the smoke. The girl pulled a handkerchief out which she had with her. She placed it in front of her mouth and entered the room. It was difficult so see something here. Luckily she didn't have to search for long. She found the right bookshelf only after some seconds. With her fist she hit some stones in the wall and finally she found the right one. The secret door swung open.

Next to the door where was a torch. Rosette took it and held its tip into some of the flames. After the tip was burning she went heavily coughing into the secret corridor and closed the door behind her again. She had absolutely no idea where the way led to, she simply followed it. Unfortunately the hidden ways and corridor were like a labyrinth. Sometimes she heard some sounds or the sound of fire from the other side of the wall and she hurried quickly away. After a while she saw that she was in the underground of the city and there were no sounds anymore. That meant except for the sounds her shoes made on the ground and her coughing which was caused by the smoke earlier in the burning library. Eventually after some hours of losing her way she saw the dim moon light coming through an exit. In front of the exit there were some plants growing. There was something like a little cave. Outside was the forest.

Panting she fell on her hands and knees. She had made it, she really had made it. She was out of the catacombs, out of the city, out of the chaos. The full moon shone through the leaves of the big trees surrounding her and it gave everything a silver-blue colour. Some other parts which stayed in the shadow were totally black. At the horizon was lightened up a little. But that was because of the fire at home. Exhausted Rosette looked around in the unknown forest.

Nobody was there. Perhaps the others had taken another way out? Maybe there was another exit they had used. Or they thought she was already dead and had continued their way. That was possible as well. Perhaps it would be the best for the blonde to stay here until there was daylight again. In the dark forest it was easy to stumble, fall down and hurting something. She also didn't know where to go. Because she had no other idea she sat down in the shadow of a big tree.

There she rested her head on her arms which were wrapped around her knees. Nevertheless she refused to fall asleep. Who knows if not a demon had followed her or what dangerous animals were there. She fought hard against the urge to sleep. But in the end she lost this fight, lay down next to the tree trunk and then she was slowly drifting into dream land where everything was still okay.

The night went on and changed into morning. The sky was darker and some rains drops were falling down. One hit Rosette on her nose and a second one, which fall onto her face as well, woke her up. She leaned on her arms, blinked with her eyes and pushed the blanket away. Yesterday had been a hard day. Moment! She had a blanket?!!! Stunned she looked at the black cloth she had obviously used as a blanket. But where the heck did it come from?! She absolutely didn't remember having one when she had fallen asleep. Now it was there, that was no doubt. She jumped to her feet and brushed the dirt off her dress. Then she took a closer look at the 'blanket'. Actually it was a black cloak. On its back it had a hood and in the front there was a golden buckle. The cloth the cloak was made of seemed to have a good quality.

Rosette took some steps forwards and looked around. Nobody was seen. But the cloak had to belong to someone. "Hello?" She called. The only answer she got was the twitter and chirping of some birds.

Some steps were heard behind her on the forest ground.

"Good morning, Rozetto."

--

One more song:

_Somewhere_

_Lost in the darkness, hoping for a sign._

_Instead there is only silence,_

_can't you hear my screams?_

_Never stop hoping._

_Need to know where you are,_

_but one thing is for sure,_

_you're always in my heart._

_Chorus:_

_I'll find you somewhere._

_I'll keep on trying until my dying day._

_I just need to know whatever has happened,_

_the truth will free my soul._

_Lost in the darkness, try to find your way home._

_I want to embrace you and never let you go._

_Almost hope you're in heaven so no one can hurt your soul._

_Living in agony cause I just do not know_

_where you are._

_Repeat chorus_

_Wherever you are, I won't stop searching._

_Whatever it takes, I need to know._

_Repeat chorus_

_By Within Temptation_

**AN:** Phew…. That chapter was difficult to write. I needed some more time than for the others, but therefore there's more action in it =D And I again couldn't stop hearing Within Temptation XD

Aaaaaaaaaaand today's my B-day XDDD


	11. II Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

The queen called her daughter's name loudly as she heard her scream and a demon's roar behind the wall of fire. Joshua as well called his sister's name. He wanted to run through the fire to help her, but he was held back by one of the guards. The other three girls Azmaria, Sathella and Florette just looked shocked at the wall of fire. The guards and soldiers made them continue running nevertheless. They said they weren't able to do anything and that it was terrible what happened, but they had to go on. If they didn't do so, more of them would die. With a heavy heart they continued their escape. With some smaller problems they arrived at the catacombs and took the way which led to the southern exit in the forest. When they stepped out into the fresh evening air they were greeted by some soldiers who should bring them to the summer residence. One of them should bring the bad news to the king.

Vinsent plopped shocked on the chair next to him as he heard that his daughter had died in the chaos. He himself had some injures, but only smaller ones. They had fought against the demons, but in the end the capital city had fallen. How could that happen and how could it happen do fast? And why now? These and many other questions were flying around in his head. Now he had to rest at first. But he wouldn't let the demons go away with that unpunished. He wanted his revenge. The revenge for his kingdom, the people who died and most importantly his dear daughter.

--

"Good morning, Rozetto."

Rosette frightened because someone was directly behind her, she let the cloak in her hands fall down and jumped around. The young man in front of her chuckled. He had dark shoulder long hair which shimmered purple in the morning light. His shirt was white-beige. It had a button at the neck and it had these wide sleeves which were tied with a cuff at his wrists. (AN: Sorry I have no idea how to describe the stupid shirt .") The trousers were a dark grey. He also wore some dark leg warmers. (AN: Something similar to that what he wears in the Manga in his demonic form) At a belt there was a sheath with a long sword at the right. That was not really usual, because the most people wore it on the left side. He on the other hand had to be left handed. The sword was always worn on the other side, meaning if you're right handed it's on the left, if you're left handed it's on the right. Anyways, on the handle the sword was golden and decorated with some crystals and diamonds. It looked expensive. In his left hand he held the reins of a beautiful black horse.

Heavily breathing because of the shock, Rosette stood there and stared at him. Then she finally managed to whisper one word. "Chrno?"

"Sure. Who else?" He grinned at her, but he also added in his funny accent. "We haven't in a long while. It's nice to see that you're okay. So, you're now the new the crown princess? Do I now have to call you 'your Majesty'?"

Rosette lightly shook her head and smiled a little and hugged him quickly before taking some steps back again. "No, just call me like you ever did. And yes, it was a long time. I thought you were dead, Chrno." A thousand feelings were flying around in her head now. She didn't really know what to think or what to do now. She had lived four years with the thought that her best friend was dead. Now he directly stood in front of her again. He had grown much. He was now nearly one head taller than her. His face had also become older. The child face had vanished into a young man's face. The once waist long purple hairs were cut as well. But the sparkling red eyes were still the same.

"Do you wanna eat something?" He asked her after a little break. Her stomach growled loudly. She hadn't even noticed how hungry she was. She hadn't had dinner yesterday after all.

"Uh, I take that as a yes." He went to the saddle bags of his horse and pulled a box with food in it out of the bag. He also took a canteen bottle which hung around the knob of the saddle. They sat down on a big stone which lay in the forest. The now shining sun shone onto it and so it was nicely warm there. Chrno handed her some slices of bread and some cheese. The bottle was filled with normal water. After a few minutes in which nobody talked Rosette broke the silence.

"I really thought that demon had killed you years ago. How did you escape?" She said before she took a bit of the food.

Chrno stopped eating and looked at her. "You need more than a demon to kill me and I guess I just escaped in the right moment." These were the only things he said to that topic and it seemed like he didn't to talk about that topic. Either it was a secret or he just didn't want to remember the thing that had happened to that time. That was understandable as well. Rosette decided to respect his wish and not to ask him more questions about that – even through she really wanted to know everything, every little detail. Maybe he would tell her sometime. She had to wait. But there was one question she had to ask. "Why did you never came back to tell me that you're okay? I was so worried about you and sad at the thought that you were dead. If you had come to say goodbye or so, it would have been so much easier for me."

"I'm sorry about that, really. I wanted to visit you. But my family was worried about me as well and my parents didn't allow me to leave the area close to our plot of land. After some time I was allowed to leave the area again, but only when I should visit someone to give him a message from my father. There was never time to come the way all across the country to visit you." He explained her.

"Oh, sure. I can understand that. So how has your life being going one since then?" Rosette nodded and took another bite.

"Well, I helped my father with some of his business. When I was older and learned how to defend myself, I traveled around the country to bring some important messages to my father's colleagues and other important men. One single time I had the opportunity to visit you. But then I came to the clearing, you weren't there. Well, some years had already passed by and I was actually not really surprised you weren't there." He told her, but he as well wanted to know how life has been for Rosette.

The girl answered that it had been boring the most time. She also told him that Joshua's illness was still there. Fortunately he hadn't been sick in the last days. She hoped that he, her family, Azmaria, Sathella and Florette were alright. And she said that she didn't know where to go now or where the others were.

"I think I've heard someone saying that they wanted to go to the royal summer residence. It's a journey of about 3 days with the horse until you are there. But I also heard them say that you were dead. The message of the burning palace ran through the whole kingdom within one day. Some people tell the story that your guards said they weren't able to protect you. They heard a loud roar and a scream after you were separated. So the whole country thinks your dead." He told her with a serious face. Shocked Rosette looked at him. So they really thought she was dead. She ran her hand over her face and sighed. "Great. And what am I supposed to do now?" She asked quietly.

"That's no problem. I know the way to the summer residence. I can bring you there if you want." Chrno offered her and hung the empty canteen bottle back on the saddle.

"Really?" At least there was one positive thing happening. "And how are we supposed to go there? By feet? You only have one horse." Rosette wanted to know and got up from the rock.

"That's no problem as well." He smiled at her and tied the cloak, which had still lain on the ground, on the backside of the saddle. "Do you know what race of horse that is?"

Rosette took a closer look at the horse. It looked noble. His fur, mane and tail were pitch black. Obviously it was a Frisian horse. (AN: very beautiful horses. Link for a photo is underneath at the end of the chapter.) The mane and tail were curly and very long. For example the mane reached down to the elbow joint of the horse. The legs were relatively thin, but the hooves very big. There were also very long hair on the lower part of the legs. Rosette stunned for a moment. For a second the hooves looked dark red. That had to be her imagination. The horse wore a saddle with some bags, a bow and a bag with some arrows on it. In the front there was harness around its chest which went from one side of the saddle around to the other side. The cloth under the saddle was a bright red. The saddle itself was dark brown and as well was the snaffle. Plus the snaffle had some funny skull buckles under the ears of the horse. At the moment the horse was relaxed and stood with half lidded eyes there. Perhaps it was taking a little nap. Suddenly some birds in a tree close to them screamed loudly. The horse pricked its ears and looked with now full opened eyes at the other animal. That was then it hit Rosette like a slap into her face. The eyes were a glowing bright red. And when I write 'glowing' I mean really, really glowing ones. It seemed that you could look directly into the horse's soul when you looked into the eyes.

"Holy Hell! What's that?!" Confused she looked from the horse to Chrno and back again.

"Well, this, my dear" He started. "This is a so called equus umbraticus. That means translated something like 'Shadow-horse'. Equi umbratici, that's the plural form, are the souls of horses which died in war, in other battles or very cruelly. Their soul couldn't rest and with the time they became shadow-horses. Like the name says they live in the shadows and normally they don't come out. Once you found one of them and it accepted you as its owner it will do everything you want. It also doesn't need to rest, to sleep, to eat or drink. It never gets ill or hurt. Plus it's faster than any other horse. With other words the perfect horse." Chrno ended and petted the neck of the big black animal. It snorted. "Oh, yeah and to the time you don't need it, it will vanish in the shadows until you call it. Here, I can show you." He said something to the horse and it trotted to the shadow of a big oak tree. Suddenly its shape melted and faded into the tree shadow. And gone was the horse. It just disappeared like that. Puzzled Rosette ran to the place where she had seen it the last time. Really gone. There was no sight or even a trace of it anymore. "Wow… and how do you get it back again?" Rosette asked and pointed at the place where it had vanished. Chrno put the tips of his thumb and his middle finger into his mouth and whistled loudly. Suddenly the shadow of another tree changed its shape and the horse jumped out of it. It neighed and stopped sliding over the ground. The saddle and snaffle were still there.

"This horsie is cool. How can I get one of them?" The blonde asked him excited and walked over to him.

"Every equus umbraticus has a little jewel on either the snaffle or saddle. If you are able to get it, you can call the horse. But therefore you have to find one of them at first. They are very rare." He told her and looked for something in the small bag which hung at his belt.

Rosette pulled a face. "So I have to search one at first? I bet that takes an eternity."

Chrno chuckled. "No it doesn't. I have four. I can give you one." He had found what he had been looking for in the bag and pulled it out. It was a nice shimmering emerald. He handed the jewel to her and explained to her what she had to do in order to call the horse. After two attempts it worked and there was a second one of these horses. It looked nearly the same way than the other one did, only that it didn't had this harness around its chest. Chrno helped her climbing on its back and got on his own horse. To Rosette's surprise the way the horse walked, trotted and galloped was unbelievable comfortable and soft.

"Which way?" She asked the one next to her.

"At first in this direction." He pointed at a special direction.

---

**AN: **.

That's the link fort he photo of a Frisian horse. You can also look in google picture search for more.

Oh yeah, and I've made an illustration for the fanfic =D both sitting on this shadow-horses -

.com/art/Illustration-for-my-fanfic-116731729

The pic is not really good though


	12. II Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

The first day passed by soon. The morning faded into noon and the noon faded into evening. The sun hung low over the horizon. There were many clouds on the sky. Rosette just hoped that it wouldn't rain during the night. She absolutely didn't want to get all wet or to get a cold because of the bad weather. In the shadows of the forests it was cold enough; she didn't really need to freeze her butt off. Chrno didn't seem to mind the weather. Apparently he was used to that. After the sun had gone down the purple head suggested to camp at a little clearing. It wasn't that big, but it was enough. As soon as they got off their horses, they took the stuff they needed out of the saddle bags. Afterwards the horses vanished in the shadow. While Chrno was searching some fire wood Rosette looked for some good places to sleep. In the end the fire was in the middle, Rosette's sleep place on the left and Chrno's on the right. Chrno had shot a rabbit for them with the bow and an arrow, so they had something to eat. (AN: poor bunny XD) They grilled it over the fire. It didn't taste very good, but it wasn't very bad as well. After the meal the youth talked a little about this and that. Chrno still didn't talk a lot about his past. But he noticed that she still was wearing the pocket watch. "It's nice to know that you still have it."

At first confused because she didn't know what he meant, she looked stunned at him.

"I mean the watch." He saw on her look that she didn't understand and explained it directly.

"Oh, yeah. It looks nice on this necklace. And it's my lucky charm." She looked down to the watch and took it in her hand. Chrno lightly smiled at her. "Yeah, it does look nice. Does it work right?"

Rosette shook her head and looked on the watch again. "No, it doesn't. No matter how often I try to set it, it never works right." She shrugged her shoulders and let go of the watch again.

Anyways. Time to go to bed. Good night." Rosette said and lay down on the moss bed she had made. She used again the cloak as a blanket. "Don't you wanna sleep as well?" She asked him because she saw that he still sat on his place watching the dancing flames of the fire.

"Uh? Er, no. I'm not tired yet." He told her and said good night. Rosette lay her head down onto her crossed arms and fell asleep. Even through the moss bed wasn't as comfortable than the bed at home she slept tight and didn't wake up until it dawned.

The next morning she woke up she saw that Chrno had gone. His stuff was still here, but he wasn't. Slowly Rosette sat up and rubbed her eyes. While getting onto her feet she noticed that her muscles were terribly aching. She wasn't used to sit on a horse for such a long time and yesterday she had been doing that for the whole day. "Uh…" She held her butt and cursed a few times. She also found out that the weather was worse than yesterday. The sky was all dark grey with rain clouds. It looked like the rain could pour down in every second. "Nya, great." The blonde said ironically.

"Ya, weather isn't the best today. It would be the best to move on." Chrno came from the left to the little clearing. He had filled the bottles with new water. There was a little river about ten minutes away. Rosette agreed with him and they packed their stuff again. The equi umbratici were already waiting for them.

In the morning the weather was still nice, but then it changed and it started to rain. Chrno and Rosette pulled the hoods of the cloaks over their head. Luckily it was only one of these short showers and it didn't last for long, only one hour or so. Afterwards there was a rainbow and the sun came out a little. As soon as the sun was seen, it warmed the air up and there was a comfortable warm temperature.

After some more time the teenager decided to take a break. Rosette got off her horse which vanished only seconds afterwards. But because of the rain the ground was muddy by now. Rosette's food accidentally slipped away and thanks to her great luck she landed directly in the biggest puddle of mud she could find. Chrno who got off his horse also clapped his hand over his mouth, so that he didn't explode in laughter. The blonde tried to get up, but just in that time she slipped away again. This time Chrno had to turn his head away that he didn't started to laugh loudly. Rosette shot some glares at him.

"So, you think that's funny, ya?" She said angrily.

He looked at her and bit his lower lip. "Uh, no?" He responded still trying to suppress the laughter. – That didn't really work.

"You could help me at least!" She protested. But he still fought with himself not to laugh. "I show you funny." The girl grumbled. Three seconds later a hand full of mud hit Chrno's face.

Indignant he stood there and needed a moment to realize what had happened. Quickly he wiped the mud out of his eyes. "Tell me you didn't just throw that at me."

"And if I did?" She teased him and held her head high. Now she stood some meters away from him with another hand full of mud ready to throw.

"Say sorry or you will definitely regret that." He warned her ducking under the second mud ball she had just thrown at him. "I take that as a 'no'." Now it was him who gripped some mire and threw it at her. She shrieked and took some steps to the left. "Hey! Throwing dirt at a young lady is not gentleman-like!" But a ball had hit shoulder. "Ah! Now everything is in my hair!" She screamed and took two hands full of sludge.

"Ah! The mud monster is killed me!" Chrno made a faked scarred face and chuckled.

"I'll give you 'mud monster'!!!" Rosette yelled and ran after him.

Somehow like that it went on. Just until everyone's clothes were sucked with the stuff.

Suddenly Rosette stopped. She bent down and waved with her hand in front of her chest. "EEEWWW!" She squeaked.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Chrno hurried over to her side. Hopefully he didn't hit her with a little stone which was hidden in the mud.

"Ewww." She made again and pulled a face. "It's in my corset!!!"

A little embarrassing silence spread out.

"Aha… and now?" Chrno asked not knowing exactly what to do now.

"Nothing now!" She said half laughing and wiped some dirt away. "Ew, let's go to the river. I don't wanna walk around like that. I wanna wash it away."

He agreed with her.

"You know, this was the first time in the last four years that I had really a lot fun!" She laughed and tried to climb over a tree trunk. "At home everybody was always so serious."

-

Fortunately the river wasn't far away but they had to walk a little bit through the undergrowth. After about quarter an hour they had found it. The water of the river was clear and had a nice temperature. The river also made a bow around a little hill. Some big rock lay at the shore; there were also some bushes and other stuff covering in the shore and river at some places.

"Hey, I'm going taking a bath other there and wash my clothes. Dare it to spy and you're dead." Rosette told him. She had found a place which was far enough away and with something like a rock and bush wall around it, so nobody could see her. She looked back over her shoulder before disappearing behind that wall thing. There she took off her clothes and hurried to wash herself and the dress. When she was done she took on the underdress. (AN: You know this simple white dress, the woman wore under the big dresses in that time ^^") Afterwards she put on the normal dress again, but then she noticed that she wasn't able to tie up the dress alone. At home she always had one or two maids who helped her doing that. The girl sighed and went out of her hiding place. She looked around for Chrno and found him at the right side of the river in the circa knee deep water. Obviously he was trying to catch some fishes or so. He was only wearing the trousers, the rest of his clothes hung over a little bush to dry in the sun. He just caught a fish but it slipped out of his hands again.

"Hey there. You're done already?" It was more a realization than a question. "I'm trying to catch some fishes for lunch." He looked shortly at her and turned his attention back to the water. Rosette stayed next to him. "Uhm…"

"Yeah? Is something?" Chrno stood up looked down to her.

She turned around and pointed the cord which hung loosely down her back.

"Uh, could you please?" She asked and blushed a light pink.

Chrno hesitated a second, but then he started tying up the cord. "Tell me, if it's too tight, will ya?" He had absolutely no plan how to tie the thing up. Somehow he managed it to lace it nevertheless, but it took him a while. "There. Done." He said and took some steps backwards. Rosette smiled amusedly as she saw that he had a light red colour in his face, too.

"Hey, can I help you catching some fishes?" The girl offered him to bridge the silence.

It took them a while to catch their lunch, but in the end they had three medium sized fishes. These were pierced on a stick and now they were grilling over a small fire next to the shore. In the time the food needed to be finished Chrno lay down in the sun and took a little nap. Rosette didn't know what else to do, so she walked around a little.

After half an hour the purple head called her to come back to eat. Because 'eat' was the magical word the blonde sat next to the fire within seconds.

"You're still the same, you know?" Chrno commented her behaviour.

"What do you mean by that?" Rosette wanted to know. She was still eating and so her words were nearly non-understandable. Her friend chuckled.

"Apropos, do you have some of the delicious cookies? You know, the ones we always ate when we were younger?" She reminded the old times and how she wished that she was still the little child in the picnicking in the forest. These times had been so peaceful and so easy. Now it was all different. Why couldn't everything have stayed like that?

"Ah, yeah. The cookies… No, sorry. I don't have any with me. If you like I can ask if anyone remembers the recipe my mother used." He said and bite in his fish. Rosette nodded and asked him what a person his mother was. He had never told her something about his family. But because of that what he was telling her now, it seemed that he really liked his family. He only talked good about his mother who had unfortunately died last year and apparently he had a brother. Chrno didn't say if his brother was older or younger than him, but Rosette didn't really care about that fact. It was the first time in the whole time she had known him that he was talking so open hearted. The only one he didn't seemed to like very much was his father. He wasn't often at home and the relationship between him and his sons didn't seem to be that good.

Soon they noticed that it was late already. They had wasted a lot time this afternoon. Chrno's travel concept was out of plan. They would need a little bit longer until they arrived at the summer residence. They found back to the normal path in the woods again and got on their horses. The path grew bigger the further they went. Some time later they passed by some other people. They were the first people Chrno and Rosette had seen since they had met in front of the catacombs. It also meant that they would arrive at a city soon.

**AN****:** Filler chapter -.-" I had no idea what to write… absolutely no idea… And I stuck four times longer at this chapter than on the others. The part with 'help me lacing my corset' was bijuria's idea. I hope I have more ideas for the next chapter -.-


	13. II Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

The further Chrno and Rosette went the closer they came to a city. Form a hill they could already see the city walls. But it would take some time until they would arrive there. The sun hung low and there were some single clouds on the reddish pink evening sky. On the other side of the sky the moon was already seen. Rosette hoped that they would be in the town before it was totally dark. She didn't really like it to walk around in a city she didn't know at night. Who knew what persons, no what criminal persons, lived there? A cold wind brushed through her long golden hair. During the bath in the afternoon she had opened the braid and now the hair was simply falling down her back. As said a cold wind began to blow. Chrno pulled the cloak over his shoulders and closed the buckle in the front. Rosette followed his example.

The area where they were by now consisted mostly of fields or pastures. Some occasional houses stood between the fields. Only a few people were outside. The city wasn't far away anymore. Chrno and Rosette turned to their right on the main street. It led directly to the city gates.

"Pull the hood over your head." Chrno ordered and did what he said too. Confused Rosette asked why, but did the same nevertheless. He explained her that it could be dangerous if someone recognised her as the crown princess. The people would react strange or they would even try to kidnap her to get some ransom. There were always such egoistic persons who couldn't be trusted. Moreover the message that she still lived would spread over the land and then the devils would be after her again. The teenagers didn't want to risk that, so they decided to keep as inconspicuous as possible.

After about fifteen minutes they arrived at city wall with the gate. There were some soldiers standing in front of it. They were just talking to someone who wanted to go through the gate. Then they let him pass. Chrno and Rosette had to stop as well. The soldiers had crossed their lance like weapons.

"Your name and the reason why you want to enter." The one asked them and scanned them from top to toe.

"We're only on the passing through. We planned to stay in one of the inns over night and to leave tomorrow." Rosette told them. The second soldier nodded shortly and wrote something down on a sheet of paper.

"And your name was?" The first one said in a monotone manner.

Before Rosette was able to open her mouth again, Chrno cut her down and told the soldiers some wrong names. The guards nodded and handed both of them a paper.

"Here is your residence permit. With that you're allowed to stay until tomorrow evening. Then you have to leave our town." The second soldier explained. "I'm sorry, but these permits are necessary in the last time. People come from everywhere; mostly they are people who fled out of Soronada. We have special orders because of that. I don't know if you find a place to stay over night. We've lots of guest and travellers at the moment. Good evening." The soldier explained, wished them a nice evening and stepped aside, so Chrno and Rosette could go through the gate.

The man at the gate had been right. The town was crowded by people. In the street between the high walls of the buildings it was already dark. The sun had already gone down; only a small light slit was seen. Some lanterns on the house walls and some streetlights spent some light.

Rosette and Chrno rode with their horses along the street to the town centre. On their way they asked someone where the best inn was to stay over. They were told that there was one called 'Golden Apple'. It was on a corner next to the main street. The man they asked said that the food there was the best and that it should have some free rooms. They thanked him and looked for the building the man had described.

There it was. It looked nice. There was a friendly rural atmosphere around it. Chrno and Rosette got off their horses and took the most important stuff out of the saddle bags and put them into another bag which hung around Chrno's shoulder. He opened the door for her and they stepped in.

Inside it was atmospheric. There were some wooden benches, chairs and tables. A lot of men and women were sitting there. Therefore it was also relatively loud in this room. They were all talking or laughing loudly. At the opposite side of the room there was a counter with a bar and some higher bar stools in front of it. A chubby middle-aged woman with long curly dark brown hair stood behind the counter. She talked to a man and washed a glass. Then she gave some orders to a waitress who should bring some food to a table. The woman seemed to be the boss here.

Chrno pointed at her and made a gesture for Rosette to follow her. He leaned on the counter and waited till the landlady had time for them. She just tapped some beer and gave it to another waitress to bring it to a table. Smiling she turned around. "Hello, welcome to the 'Golden Apple'. I guess you two want something to drink, a warm meal." She said with a warm voice.

"Yes!" Rosette cheered and clapped her hands (only hearing a word which had something to do with food).

"And two rooms for the night please." Chrno told her.

"Sure." She turned around to take two keys from a board behind her. "Here you go." She gave them the keys.

Before they ate something, they decided to put their stuff in their rooms. On the labels which hung on the keys was a room number. The rooms were upstairs in the second floor at the middle of the corridor next to each other. The two rooms looked very similar. There was a bed, a desk with a chair, on the desk a vase with nice flowers, a chest of drawers and a window.

Rosette put her stuff next to the bed and plopped into the soft pillow. Finally a real bed again. Because she had slept on the ground the last two nights her back hurt a little bit and her muscles were aching a little. She knew that she didn't have time for sleeping now and went out of her room. She closed and locked the door behind her and went downstairs. Chrno wasn't there yet and so she sat down on a bar stool and chatted a little with the landlady whose name was Brigitte.

She asked her a little bit about the city. Brigitte told her that the town had used to be a calm village. That was before Soronada had been attacked. Because the town was only two days away from the capital city it was one of the closest cities and a lot of people had come. Brigitte didn't know if she should be happy or sad about the attack. On one hand it was terrible what happened but on the other hand she had now so many guests and she got a lot more money.

All in all she was a likable person. Rosette asked her how far it was to the royal summer residence. The older woman stunned for a moment. But then told her that it was about two or three days away from here. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Uh,… I was just curious. It's said that it's not so far away from here." Rosette quickly said and started a new topic. She asked her what the best meals were in this restaurant. On the menu there were so many delicious meals. Rosette could really decide which one she would take.

"Don't you wanna wait with the order until your boyfriend comes down again?" Brigitte asked her and gave a glass vine to a woman who stood next to Rosette.

"Hu? What please?" Rosette didn't really trust her ear. "He's not my… I mean we aren't –"

"Ah. Alright, alright. I'm sorry. But now really, if I was younger I would take him immediately." The brown haired woman laughed loudly. Rosette felt a warmth in her cheeks and knew she had blushed a bright red. She held her hands on her cheeks to cool them down.

"Okay, that's so embarrassing." She muttered to herself. Just in that moment Chrno came down as well. He had stayed longer upstairs because he had changed into some fresh clothes.

They chose a little table at the left and sat down there to eat. It tasted delicious. But the drink had a strange taste – strange but good. Rosette asked Chrno what it was; she had never drunk something like that before.

"That's normal mead. Something like honey vine. Don't drink too much of it or you'll get drunk." He explained her between two sips. "But perhaps you only know that stupid fancy wine which is served in the palace. I'm sorry, but I don't that this inn serves something comparable."

After they had eaten they stayed a little bit on the table and chatted a little. Afterwards they went upstairs into their rooms. Rosette took off her corset and the heavy dress. She would sleep in the white under dress.

She blew out the candle which lightened the room, lay down in the soft bed and tried to fell asleep. Even after one hour she was still awake and it didn't seem like she would fell asleep soon.

Downstairs in the pub it was already quiet. All the guests had disappeared or were sleeping. She got out of her bed and leaned out of the window. The sky was full of stars today. She also saw some light from the neighbour window. The girl closed the window again and opened her door a little bit to peak out of it. Nobody was on the corridor. She went out and looked at the next door next to hers. A little gap of light was seen under the door. She knocked and entered the room. Chrno sat on the chair with some papers in front of him on the desk. Three candles and a glass of water were there on the desk as well. He smiled at her and asked her if she couldn't sleep as well. Rosette leaned beside him on the window sill.

"How do you think will my family react if they see me?" She asked all of a sudden. "I'm worried you know." She clutched her shoulders and looked outside of the window.

"Well, I think they'll be happy what else?" Chrno suggested. He put the papers on one heap and put them into a folder. He got up from his chair and looked out of the window as well. "Don't worry about them. Worries only make your heart sad. With a sad heart you can't enjoy life. Push the worries away and be happy with the situation you're in now. Think optimistically. It can always be worse, so be happy that it isn't… at the moment."

"Uh, is that the emo side of your soul?" Rosette teased him and chuckled.

"I have a lot sides you don't know, Rozetto." He answered her and looked at her. "But at least you're feeling better now, don't you?"

"Right." She grinned at him. "Thanks for that. I'm going to bed now. Good night." She continued grinning and gave him a little peck on the cheek before running out of the room.

The next morning both ate a quick breakfast and bought some food for the rest of the day. Chrno paid for the meals and the rooms and together they left the city again. They went on along their way. The fields and meadows were bordered by a river. On the other side of the water was again forest. A large wooden bridge was built over the river. While they rode over it with their equi umbratici, the hooves of the horses made some funny _CLUNG_ sounds.

On their way the two teenagers met some other people who were travelling around. Soon this amount of people vanished and soon they were alone again.

In the noon they decided to have a little break at a clearing. They just got off their horses and the shadow animals vanished away. Rosette sat down on a trunk and took her bag. Suddenly a loud crash was heard behind her. Shocked and surprised she turned. Before she could do so two strong claws gripped her at her arms and lifted her up so her feet didn't touch the ground anymore. The blonde screamed loudly and struggled, but there was no escape out of the claws.

Terrified she looked to the ones the claws belonged to. There were two demons on each side of her. They looked mean and cruel. Their clothes looked like some sort of dark grey uniform. She screamed again and looked over to Chrno to see if he was alright. To her surprise he simply stood there, looking to the ground, avoiding looking her in the eyes. He didn't even try to help her.

Suddenly a third devil appeared out of nowhere. He looked rich with some expensive clothes. His horns and wings were bigger than the other's ones. He was obviously their master or Lord or something like that. Rosette wanted to warn Chrno, but she didn't have time to do so. The master demon looked from Chrno to her and back again. Then he began to speak with a dark voice in this other language.

"Well done, my son."

_**END PART II**_

And now a song XD:

_Angles_

_Sparkling angel I believed_

_you were my saviour in my time of need._

_Blinded by faith I couldn't hear_

_all the whispers, the warning so clear._

_I see the angels,_

_I'll lead them to your door._

_There's no escape now,_

_no mercy no more._

_No remorse cause I still remember_

_the smile when you tore me apart._

_Chorus:_

_You took my heart,_

_deceived me right from the start._

_You showed me dreams,_

_I wished they would turn into real._

_You broke the promise and made me realise._

_It was all just a lie._

_Sparkling angel, I couldn't see_

_your dark intentions, your feelings for me._

_Fallen angel, tell me why?_

_What is the reason, the thorn in your eye?_

_I see the angels,_

_I'll lead them to your door._

_There's no escape now,_

_no mercy no more._

_No remorse cause I still remember_

_the smile when you tore me apart._

_Chorus:_

_You took my heart,_

_deceived me right from the start._

_You showed me dreams,_

_I wished they would turn into real._

_You broke the promise and made me realise._

_It was all just a lie._

_Could have been forever._

_Now we have reached the end._

_This world may have failed you,_

_it doesn't give you reason why._

_You could have chosen a different path in life._

_The smile when you tore me apart._

_Repeat chorus_

_By Within Temptation_

**AN:** Ha…ha…haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa XD mwahahahahahaha, I know I am mean today XD That was fun to write… one of my fave chapters so far. NOw I want a cookie. Some reviews would be good too.

Let's see how Rosie reacts in the next chapter to that mwahahaha

_**AND REVIEW**_

Oh yeah and the song doesn't really fit, but somehow it inspired me to this…


	14. III Chapter 14

**AN:** Because it's still Christmas time, you get an extra-long chappie today!!! And sorry for updating so slowly… -.-" But I had to rewrite the chapters a thousand times…

**_Part III:_**

**Chapter 14:**

"Well done, my son." The tall demon in front of her said. Rosette mouth clapped open and it felt like her heart stopped beating. Shocked she looked over to Chrno who was still avoiding looking her in the eyes. He took one step back and went out of Rosette's view. She didn't understand her world anymore and fainted. The other two devils carried her away.

_Flash Back (some years ago)_

Chrno brought the pocket watch to the craftsman. He asked him if he was able to repair it. Chrno also wanted him to take one of the dragon scales to replace the old broken dial.

Some days later the boy visited the craftsman again and took the watch. It was polished and the scratches were gone. Now it looked new and beautiful. The dial was the highlight. It sparkled beautiful in the light.

Chrno put it in his pocket and went on his way to Rosette. A little bit later he met her at the clearing again. He gave her the pocket watch. She really liked it and was happy about his present. Suddenly another demon burst through the woods. Chrno knew him. It was one of his guards. Somehow he had followed him.

Terrified Rosette screamed. Chrno took her hand and pulled her behind him. He was afraid that the devil could hurt or even kill her. Humans were regarded as dangerous after all. But obviously the guard was only after him. The taller demon gripped him at his suspenders and started to fly. Chrno could hear Rosette scream on the ground, but then they already were too high and Chrno couldn't see her anymore. While they flew, the guard didn't say anything. Chrno crossed his arms and pouted. Now he was in real trouble at home. His father would be furious, his mother only extremely worried and Aion surely wanted to know everything. And so it was. Chrno got house arrest for an eternity and his father didn't stopped yelling at him.

"Are you stupid? Do you even know how dangerous that was?!" The Southern Lord shouted. "You don't know what could have happened! You don't know what the humans could have done to you! But the worst thing is that you didn't obey my orders! I want you to be loyal to your father and your Lord! I don't tolerant disobedience!"

The devil child only shook his head and backed away from him. He was scarred because of his father being furious. On the other hand he didn't want to believe that humans were dangerous. The strict father continued scolding him and sent him eventually to his room where Chrno had to stay for the next time.

Pouting he sat down on his bed and looked around in his room. It was so bring in here… At least he had Aion. His brother would come soon. And so it was.

After a knock on the door Aion came into the room. He rushed over to Chrno and bombed him with questions. "How did you get there?" – "How does it look like there?" – "What did you do there?" – "Are humans really such cruel beings?" – "Did you have any great adventures there?" – "Why didn't you take me with you?"

Chrno sighed and smiled slightly. Finally, after all these years, he had the chance to tell everything to anyone. "Well,…" He took a deep breath and tried to remember all of Aion's questions. "I got there the first time when we were six. It was the day we met the dragon and with his wing the dragon beat me into an air stream which led to the other side of the mountains. It looks different there. There aren't so many conifer trees, but a lot of deciduous trees. I met a friend there, so no, humans are not evil. And it was always relatively calm over there, so I didn't have any great adventures either. And I didn't take you with me because I didn't want you to have trouble like me now. Moreover I know how bad you can keep secrets… You would have told anyone only to brag…"

"Hehe" Aion scratched the back of head embarrassed. "Yeah, that sounds pretty much like me."

Suddenly Chrno remembered his little conversation with Aion earlier. His brother had already warned him, why hadn't he paid more attention to him? "Aion?" he begun. "You told me this morning that you knew everything. Was it you who told the guard I was there?" He looked seriously at his twin.

"What?" The white haired demon shouted. "No! I only warned ya because the guards seemed to find out your secret! I didn't want them to find you. You had better listened to me…"

"I'm sorry for blaming you." Chrno whispered and looked down to his feet.

"I'm your twin after all!"

Chrno nodded and looked out of the window. "Alright. Could you do me one more favor? I want to go over the mountains one last time to say goodbye. It will only take two ours. Not more. Can you distract the people here while I'm not here?"

"Sure thing." Aion grinned at him. "So what distracting maneuver do you prefer? I could blow something up… or I could…" Aion continued his list with a lot of supernatural crazy maneuvers on it.

"That's up to you." Chrno shrugged his shoulders.

The next day Aion had already begun with his plan. Chrno took his chance and escaped from his room. He also made his way out of the castle. Nearby the forest he noticed someone following him. The young demon strained the muscles in his wings and dived down into the dense forest. There it would be more difficult for his pursuer to find him. Quickly he flew over the mountains and in no time he found the right air stream. Chrno arrived on the other side and turned into the direction of the clearing.

Already from far away he could smell a lot of humans and he could already hear their voices. The devil set up his wings and braked sharply. That was no good. He listened carefully to the humans. Obviously Rosette had sent them out to search him. If they found him now in this demonic form they would kill him.

Chrno flew a bow to the right. He didn't know where he should fly now. It was dangerous on the clearing and somewhere on the way back he was already waited by his pursuer.

So he flew over the forest looking for a place to hide. Ten minutes afterwards he found a corn field and landed there. He shifted to his human form, just in case anyone would find him.

"CHRNO!"

He heard a loud scream and turned his head to the sky. The sun was covered by huge wings.

Shocked he looked at the dark shadow.

It hurt when she slapped his face. Then she took him in her arms. "Chrno, you stupid child. How can you make your mother worry so much?" Lilith said and stroked his head.

"But mama, I just wanted to-"

"No, no buts." She ordered sternly.

"How did you know?" The son asked.

"Ah, come on. If Aion sets up his special distracting maneuver number one, there has to something going on." The woman let go of him and looked at him with the 'I am your mother and I know everything' look on her face. "Now, my dear. Let's go." She stood up and held her hand to him.

"_Get your dirty hands of the child!!!_" A male voice yelled. There were about ten men surrounding them. All of them had weapons and one seemed to be a special exorcist.

"_I told you I've seen a monster landing on this field!_" A second man said.

"_Yeah, and now it wants to eat that poor child!_" The third one said with disgust.

Knowing that there was trouble coming, Chrno jumped to his feet. Because his mother didn't understand, he translated it quickly.

"_Get off the child!_" The exorcist yelled and pointed with his sword towards Lilith.

The she-devil bared her fangs and growled loudly while she pushed Chrno behind her.

"_Don't hurt her, she's not evil!_" Chrno shouted to the men.

"_Don't be stupid! She's a devil. Now come here where you're safe!_" A man from behind yelled and he gripped Chrno's arm. Then he pulled him away from his mother.

"How dare you touching my child." Lilith growled with glowing eyes and decapitated the man with one single movement of her arm.

Chrno covered his eyes with his sleeve and turned away from the dead man.

The other men yelled shocked. Chrno didn't understand what they're saying. It had to be some sort of insults.

Then the young demon heard the clinging of weapons. One human with a sword had attacked and Lilith blocked it now with her claws.

Chrno jumped towards the man's sleeve and tried to pull him away. But the man just beat him away and Chrno landed roughly on the ground.

Seeing this Lilith just launched an attack towards the man who had beaten her son. She wasn't able to carry out the strike.

The exorcist was faster and stabbed his holy sword through her heart.

Abruptly she stopped and gasped. Black smoke was coming out of the wound.

"You bastards…" She hissed before collapsing. "Run away, my dear child…" She breathed out and exploded to dust. Only the horns were left. (AN: Ahhh, no!!! Lilith was one of my fave charas!!! Buhuhuuu *cries*)

Chrno's heart raced. That couldn't be… No, that couldn't be… His mother was a strong woman, she just couldn't be defeated so fast! That was all a bad nightmare! He closed his eyes tightly. If he opened them, then anything would be okay again, wouldn't it.

"_Puh, we came just in time to safe you, boy, hu?_" The exorcist said and placed his hand on Chrno's shoulder.

Slowly Chrno turned his head to him. "_You… this is your fault. Die for what you have done to my beloved mother."_

The human immediately saw his glowing golden eyes and backed off. "_The brat is one of them too! Get away from him, men!"_

Chrno got on his feet. In his rage he changed back to his demon form. Lightning appeared between his horns and black smoke started to swirl around him. The smoke expanded like an explosion. As the sight was clear again, all nine humans were frozen in time. They were stone.

--

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! IF YOU HADN'T GONE THERE, MOTHER WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN KILLED!!! HOW COULD YOU!!!" Aion screamed at him as Chrno came back and told everything.

Chrno felt terrible. He was to blame. It was his fault. Furthermore he swore to himself to never to trust a human again.

The Southern Lord on the other hand only took advantage of the situation and Chrno hated him for that. Directly after hearing what happened the father had went to the council. Now they finally had a good reason to declare war on the human country. The preparation needed some time though.

--

The next years Chrno stayed at his side of the mountains, studied and trained. The Southern Lord gave Aion and him more and more tasks to do. And he involved them more and more in the political world. Many years had passed by now and Chrno was now nearly 17 years old. He heard his father talk about a coming attack against the human kingdom. But there was one problem: They had to destroy the capital city to have a chance to win. That would weaken the human's power enormously. After the meeting of some important business man Chrno talked to his father. He told him, that he knew how to talk the human language and that he was able to destroy the capital from the inside. Chrno's human disguise was very well, so there would be no danger. Only after a lot time of persuading, his father agreed to Chrno's plan. Perhaps this would be the chance to show his father that he was better than he thought. His father always considered the twin as nothing after all. Maybe he would change is mind now and would be proud of them.

Within a few days Chrno had traveled through the whole human kingdom and had arrived in the capital. He was proud of himself that nobody had recognized him as a demon until now. The only thing on which he had to work on was his funny accent.

Then it was the fourth night, Chrno was in the city. It was dark and a lot of clouds were hanging in the sky. They covered the moon and so there was no light. With other words: It was the perfect time.

Chrno took all the stuff he needed and tied it on his belt. He took his cloak and hung it around his shoulders. Afterwards he hurried through the town towards its centre. Soon he stood in front of the palace. He knew it was huge and he knew that it was difficult to find the right room.

He saw some patrolling soldiers coming around a corner and he hid in the shadows. Then the soldiers were gone again. Chrno scanned his environment and decided that it was save enough now. With his sharp claws he climbed up the tall wall. On its top was a way for the patrolling soldiers. On the other side of the way there was the yard. To the bottom of the yard it was about 10 meters. Chrno simply jumped down and ran through the yard to the next shadows. He entered a big door and hurried along the corridors. At the end he found the right room. Light was coming out from the gap under the door.

Slowly the devil opened it. A man was standing with his back towards him. He was already in his night clothes and was looking out of the window. As quiet as a cat Chrno entered the room. The man didn't notice it. With a quick hand Chrno pulled a dagger from his belt and sneaked closer. He covered the man's mouth with his hand and his victim tried to struggle free – without success.

_"The land is ours. You stole it. Now you're giving it back." _He hissed into the king's ear. _"And this is for my dear mother…"_ He added and stabbed the dagger in his back. Dead his body fell on the ground in front of him. Chrno took one stepped back and made sure the king wasn't alive anymore.

"That was the first step. It has begun." He pulled the hood of the cloak over his head and climbed out of the window. It was way easier to escape over the roof.

The whole thing was done within one hour. He went back to his hotel and went to bed. But before doing that he sent a message to his father. Now the only thing what he had to do was to wait until the king's funeral. The king's entire relatives would be there. An army of demons would attack them and they would kill all thrown successors. The humans wouldn't have a leader and that was the perfect time to attack.

And so it happened. But because of a bad incident the royal family was able to escape somehow through the catacombs. Chrno cursed. He was in the yard and waited until another demon was supposed to lead the royal family to him. Chrno was supposed to kill exactly this family. His father wanted to be really sure that they were dead. He didn't trust the soldiers and so he told his son to do it.

But now it took too long time. Chrno knew that something had gone wrong. The other devil only led one girl about 15 or 16 years old to him. Slipping over the ground she just stopped some centimeters in front of the blade of his sword. Her long blonde braid was falling over her shoulder and her amazing blue eyes were filled with fear. Chrno didn't know what he thought at that moment.

So it really was Rosette he had seen earlier this week in the carriage. Like himself she had grown as well and uh… more female. She didn't recognize him because he was in his demon form. So she was afraid of him. Chrno narrowed his eyes and stepped aside. Puzzled she stared at him, but them she ran away.

Later in the evening Chrno had a conversation with his father. The Southern Lord was really angry. The royal family had escaped and he was angry at Chrno because he had let the girl escape. Now he was yelling and walking around in a circle. The purple head just watched him calmly.

"Don't worry father. I have a better idea." Chrno began to speak. "I know the crown princess. She was the girl I met in the forest so many years ago. She trusts me in my human from."

His father's interest was caught. Chrno smirked and went on. "I can lead her in a trap. We can tell her father, who's now the king, that she will die if he doesn't surrender. I'm sure he doesn't let his daughter die like that. And now imagine the pitiful human. We, the demons, are able to enter their kingdom – without them knowing it. We get to the capital – without them knowing it. We become best friends with the crown princess – without her or them knowing it. And we also can kidnap her without them knowing."

"That is a great idea." The Lord said amazed. "Go and look for her."

Chrno bowed and packed all his stuff. To find Rosette he had to follow her scent – a simple task because he still knew her scent very well. After some time he had found her. She was lying asleep under a tree next to the entrance to the catacombs. What a stupid girl. Didn't she know that a devil could find her there that easily?

As soon as she woke up, he talked to her and offered her to take her to her family. Thankfully she agreed and they went on their way. Chrno was surprised that she still had the pocket watch. He didn't expect her to have it. And now she was wearing it around her neck. In the next morning Chrno went a little bit away from the clearing they used to camp. Rosette was still sleeping. He noticed an eagle on a big branch of a tree. He greeted it. The bird jumped down, but that what landed on the ground, was Aion. "Hello, brother." Chrno asked when they would kidnap her. Aion told him that it would take a little while. They had some trouble and he would send some soldiers to kidnap her as soon as possible. Chrno nodded and hurried back to the clearing. "Good morning, Rozetto. I was just taking some water out of the little river over there." He smiled at her and they went on. In the morning it rained and in the afternoon Rosette slipped and fell directly into the mud. That had been funny, but the mud fight had been funnier.

Some doubts were coming to Chrno's mind. For so many years now he had tried to tell himself that ALL humans were bad. Now he started to change his mind again. He asked himself that it was right what he was doing. He didn't want Rosette to in the middle of all the action… but on the other hand it had to be. In the evening they arrived in the town and stayed in the 'Golden Apple'. They went into their rooms. Before going downstairs Chrno changed his clothes. Before he could leave the room someone knocked on the window. It was the eagle again. Chrno sighed and opened quickly the window. Aion jumped in and told him something.

"I expected you to be there this afternoon before we reach this town! What did you take so long?!" Chrno hissed at him. Aion apologized, but they had gotten some more trouble.

"Listen, tomorrow is the last chance for you. Come and kidnap her tomorrow. You won't get a chance more before we're arriving at the summer residence!" Chrno warned him. Aion nodded and told him that they would come tomorrow as soon as Chrno and Rosette had left the town. Chrno said goodbye and went downstairs. Chrno watched the eagle fly away. Since that event in the past, Aion had only spoken to him when it was important for their work or if their father told him to. He still couldn't forgive their mothers death. Chrno really wished that it was like it used to be in the past. He missed his twin as a best friend.

Later in the evening Chrno was writing an important letter to one of their allies. Suddenly it knocked on the door and Rosette who couldn't sleep stepped in. They talked a little. More and more Chrno began to doubt if he did the right thing with betraying her. She didn't know anything about it and was really happy to be at home soon. That made him kind of sad, but nevertheless he pretended to be alright. Before she went to bed again, she gave him a little peck on the cheek and left immediately. Chrno stayed back stunned for a while. He ran his hand over his face. "I am such an idiot."

The next afternoon they were on the path which led away from the town. Like settled two demon soldiers jumped out of the bushed and gripped her. To Chrno's surprise his father was there as well. "Well done, my son." He said to him. The purple head knew that it was time to go now. He turned around and left the place. During the whole thing, he did never look into Rosette's eyes. He couldn't stand the expression in her eyes. It was mixed with sadness, anger, confusion, fear and a lot of other expressions. But her strongest feeling was the sadness because she betrayed her. He could feel it even though he didn't look at her. He took a deep breath and finished this chapter of his life. This chapter was over now and Rosette had only played a minor role in it. Now it was time to forget her. The most important reason to do so was because Chrno didn't want to have the bad feeling about betraying her anymore.

_Flash back end_

--

And now a song:

_What have you done_

_Would you mind if I hurt you?  
Understand that I need to  
Wish that I had other choices  
than to harm the one I love_

_What have you done now _

_I know I'd better stop trying  
You know that there's no denying  
I won't show mercy on you now _

_I know I should stop believing  
I know that there's no retrieving  
It's over now  
What have you done _

_What have you done now _

_I, I've been waiting for someone like you  
But now you are slipping away  
What have you done now  
Why, Why does fate make us suffer  
There's a curse between us  
Between me and you _

_What have you done x4  
What have you done now  
What have you done x4  
What have you done now _

_Would you mind if I killed you  
Would you mind if I tried to  
Cause you have turned into my worst enemy  
You carry hate that I feel  
It's over now  
What have you done _

_What have you done now _

_I, I've been waiting for someone like you  
But now you are slipping away  
What have you done now  
Why, Why does fate make us suffer  
There's a curse between us  
Between me and you _

_What have you done x4  
What have you done now  
What have you done x4  
What have you done now _

_I will not fall  
Won't let it go  
We will be free  
When it ends _

_I, I've been waiting for someone like you  
But now you are slipping away  
What have you done now  
Why, Why does fate make us suffer  
There's a curse between us  
Between me and you  
x2_

_By Within Temptation_

**AN: **hey, that song really fits! Cool!

So that chapter was a summary out of Chrno's view. Mwahahaha, I am mean XDDD Oh and the chapter is longer than all others because I didn't had a possibility to put it into two chapters. I think the next chapters will be out of Chrno's view as well, but I'm not so sure.


	15. III Chapter 15

**AN: I WANT MORE REVIEWS!!!**

**Chapter 15:**

During the dinner the twins talked with their father about the next steps in their plan. The father was very happy with their situation. Now that they had destroyed the human capital and that they had Rosette as a hostage, the demons had a big advantage. They were able to extort the humans. The Southern Lord had also invited the representatives of the other counties, meaning the Northern, Western and Eastern Lords and some important generals. They held a conference in the salon. Aion and Chrno were also invited. That was something new. It was the first time they were allowed to be in one of these important conferences. They had been in two or three smaller ones, but none of these had been so important like this one now. Of cause they didn't have the same rights than the others had because they were still too young. But time could change that.

At first the older demons talked about some uninteresting stuff; it was more like chatting. Then they came to the war topic. They didn't agree in the most parts. Some wanted a war between the two kingdoms and some others didn't. Suddenly the Southern Lord clapped his hands and the room got quiet (expect for Chrno and Aion who hadn't said anything before anyways. Because of their young age they were only allowed to talk when they were told to). All looked to the man. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"With pleasure I can tell you that we caught their princess – thanks to my son Chrno." All eyes looked now on the purple head. He felt pretty uncomfortable in this situation, but luckily his father continued speaking and all attention was on him again.

"It will be a horror for the humans to see how powerful we are. We came into their country. We became _best friends _with the royal family. We destroyed their capital city. We kidnapped the crown princess. And that all without them knowing." The other Lords and generals clapped their hands, but they stopped as he lifted his hand to gesture them to be quiet.

"As I said before we have the princess. The more important thing is that we can use the princess as a hostage and tell the king that he has to surrender to get her back. On that way –"

"Or we can execute her on a public market place in one of their own cities. That will show them our power!" The Eastern Lord Defaux interrupted him. He smirked and took a sip of his vine glass. All others mumbled something which wasn't understandable. Chrno clung with his claws a little in the armrest of his chair and looked over to Aion who only shrugged his shoulders.

"But that will lead to a war. If we do it the way I said we could prevent that. I don't want so many of our soldiers to die." The Western Lord, or better the Western Lady said. Her husband had died a long time ago and now she did the things for him which wasn't so easy because she also had three kids at home. But in politic themes she really knew what to do and she was an important member of the demonical high society.

"It will lead to a war anyways. It's not important whether it begins earlier or later. I say we kill her. Who knows if the humans won't attack us after they got their princess back?" Lord Defaux protested. "Then the whole thing wouldn't have a use for us at all. Who agrees with me?"

"But-" Chrno began to speak.

"Be silent!" His father said shortly.

Chrno shut his mouth again and leaned pouting back in his chair. The others continued discussing what to do now.

"Again. Who agrees with me?" Defaux asked. Slowly one over one lifted the hand. "Everybody? Alright, then it's settled. Lord Gulio, can you send two of your best warriors to take her into the next big human city to kill her? Best would be on Sunday. Take her to the big place in front of the church. As soon as the church is over everybody comes out and sees her. Then kill her. I don't mind how, just kill her. Rib her apart or something like this." Defaux made a gesture with his hand to Gulio and leaned his head on the same hand later.

"Alright. Then let's talk about our armies and soldiers. It surely won't take a long time until the humans' answer comes. And it surely won't be a peaceful answer."

The conference went on like that for than three hours. Chrno was happy as it was finally over. He was tired and only wanted to go to bed. In the last time he hadn't slept much, perhaps two or three times in the last three weeks. A demon didn't need to sleep as often as a human. One or two times a week were enough. But therefore they could fall into a sleep-trance-like mode. It was called "guarding". The demon didn't really sleep, but it looked like he or she was. Their body relaxed, but they were still awake with sharper senses than normal to notice a danger earlier. If there was a danger the devil was immediately ready to fight. Because Chrno had been travelling so much (especially in these human cities and after killing the king) he had nearly always used the guarding mode and he had slept only when it had been really necessary. Now he yawned loudly and stretched his left arm before falling down onto his bed – his own nice comfortable and warm bed. It was really nice to be home again.

--

"WHAT?! THEY HAVE ROSETTE?!" Joshua and his father repeated in common.

"Oh my… did the demons have any charges so we can get her back? And where did you even know that from?" Vinsent asked the messenger who stood in front of him.

"No. Not until now. They have no charges. A traveller saw her on one of the paths in the forest as she was kidnapped by some demons. These are all news I have for you. I'm sorry my king." The messenger bowed and left the room.

"That's just the worst thing that could happen." Vinsent leaned on his desk and gazed into empty space.

"But father! She's alive!" Joshua tried to cheer him up. He really loved his older sister and it had been a shock for him to lose her.

"But who knows how long she'll stay alive…" Vinsent sighed and run his hand over his face. "Would you please tell the general to call his best soldiers? I'll send them to free Rosette." Joshua nodded and hurried out of the room.

--

Late in the night Chrno sat up in his bed. His eyes were still half lidded and it seemed like he was in trance or dream wandering. He got dressed and left the room… out of the window. Unfortunately it rained and the roof was wet so he nearly slipped away.

"This scent…" He mumbled to himself. Like this he dream walked along the roof onto a second lower roof. Suddenly a strong wind blew on his back and it nearly made him fall. With wide eyes and rowing arms he tried to hold balance.

"WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING HERE?!" He screamed as he finally woke up from his dream wandering. He found balance again and looked around. How the heck did he come on the ROOF?! THE ROOF?!!!

A scent was caught in his nose. His eyes turned like in trance again and his turned his head into the direction the scent was coming from. Quickly he shook his head and tried to stay awake. He followed the strange smell because he hadn't smelled something like that before.

Even though the 17 years old was tired he walked through the castle searching for the source. From time to time he sniffed the air to find the right direction again, but as he entered the cellar he was pretty sure that he was close to the source. And he was. Only one door more. Chrno stopped. The smell of blood was in the air now too. And behind the door were the dungeons. Chrno slowly opened the door.

Behind was a corridor with some thick steal doors at each side. There were no soldiers or guards. Obviously there was no need for them to be here. The castle was safe and the dungeons were protected by some magical spells as well. Nobody except for some special persons could enter or exit them. At the end of the corridor was another dungeon which was closed with these steal bar so you were able to look inside. The purple head looked inside. Then he gasped and hurried outside again. He ran into another part of the big building and entered the infirmary. The devil who had infirmary duty today starred surprised at him.

"Aren't you feeling well, master?" He asked quickly.

"Get outta here. Now." Chrno ordered him and waved to the door.

The other one bowed and obeyed. Chrno went to a closet and opened it. Within a second he had scanned its content and he found that what he was looking for – some bandages. He estimated how much he would need and took some of them. Afterwards he also took a little bottle with light blue liquid in it. He put the bottle in the pocket of his trousers and hurried to the dungeons again. And there she was. Rosette lay on the ground and clinched both of her wrists from which were bleeding. As soon as she heard someone entering he sat up, now glaring at him.

"What do you want?!" She hissed at him and backed away from the steal bars.

"Did they hurt you?" Chrno asked calmly and glanced at her arms.

"That's none of your business." Rosette hissed again. She was still glaring angry at him.

"Well, I thought you could use these ones." He held up the bandages and held out his hand so she could reach them. As said before, Chrno himself wasn't able to enter the dungeon. Rosette didn't have the intention to take them tough.

"Why should I take them from _you_?" She gave the word 'you' a very negative pronounciation. "You betrayed me one time and I don't take something from someone who betrayed me my whole life long. I really thought I could trust you because we were friends in our childhood, but probably that was all a lie as well."

Chrno nodded and let his arm sink down again. He didn't know what to say, so he looked on the floor next to him. She was right. Why should she trust him now? Once she had been his best friend – except for his brother – and then he betrayed her like this. It was her absolute right to hate him now. Perhaps he should tell her that as well.

"I have never lied to you when we were kids –" He began.

"And why have you never told me you were a devil?" She snapped back.

"I have never said I wasn't." Chrno simply replied. "And I know that what I did was wrong and you have all reasons to be mad at me. But I came to help you now. This is nothing about me or you. The -"

"Oh, yeah?! IT ISN'T?" Rosette screamed and jumped in front of the bars.

"Would you just let me finish my sentence?" Chrno said loudly. "I was just about to tell you that the wounds will get worse if they aren't bandaged or something like that! This is about your health!"

"Oh, yeah? And did you care about my health in the forest? No!" Still angry Rosette gripped the bandages, but she winced a little while moving the wrists. She took off the arm warmers. Two bleeding spots were seen. Chrno narrowed his eyes.

"Show me these, please." He asked her sternly.

"Why should I?" Rosette snapped again. But she turned her wrist nevertheless to him for only a few seconds. That was enough for him to see the bleeding cross mark. All colour vanished from his face. "You know that the wounds are stigmata, don't you?"

"Yeah, I've read of it." She answered shortly and started bandaging her left arm. Soon she sat down to have it more comfortable. Chrno sat down in front of the dungeon as well.

"And what are you doing now?" The blonde glanced over to him.

"I'm sorry." He sighed deeply. "I'm sorry for everything… For betraying you, for misusing your friendship and for… for… killing the king. He was your uncle right?"

Rosette starred at him with wide eyes and dropped the bandage she was holding in her hand.

"You… you killed him?" She repeated his words. Now she seemed kinda weak to him. Now Chrno felt really bad and sorry for her. If he only hadn't listened to his father… If he only didn't tried to impress that stupid old man…

"Y-yeah. I'm really sorry. I didn't know he was a relative of yours. If I could I would turn back time and erase all mistakes I made. But that's not possible anymore… You don't know how I felt all the time… It was terrible. You can't imagine… I was taught to obey. Always… I was always taught that I had to do what my father wants because he's the Southern Lord. Most of the things were things I didn't want to do. But I had to. I had to kidnap you or he would have punished me because I ruined my whole family's reputation. I never wanted to do something bad to you. Really. And I promise you I'll get you outta here before they are able to execute you." He told her. On his voice she could hear that he was telling the truth.

"They want to execute me?!" She shrieked and turned pale.

"Yes. I wasn't able to do anything to change their mind." Sadly he looked down again. "Better you go on bandaging or it will begin to bleed again." He added quickly. And so she did.

"You said you wanted to help me outta here. How? I think this damn jail is protected by barriers and magic." The blonde asked him, not looking up from her arm.

"Well. Exactly that's the problem…" He got up and took a can with water and a cup. They were standing on a table which stood at the wall. So there had been some soldiers before Chrno came. Chrno wondered why they left. He shook his head and poured some water into the cup.

"What are you doing?" Rosette asked because he was standing with his back to her and she couldn't see what he did.

"Wanna drink something?" He turned around and held the cup her.

The girl looked from the cup to him and back gain. She hesitated a little before she took it and thanked him quietly.

"So now, tell me. How do you wanna get me out?" She asked again.

"That's really difficult." Chrno said again. "But I promise you won't let them kill you cruelly. But you will get free again. I promise you. Even if you have to be dead to do so."

Shocked she looked at him and the cup fell down. It hit the ground with a loud sound.

"Poison." He said coldly and hold up a little bottle which was half filled with some liquid.. "They won't get you, I promise."

The girl began to cough heavily and bend down before fainting on the floor. Chrno looked in the dungeon for one last time and left then. They would never get her to use her for their evil intentions. They would never get her alive…

--

As Rosette opened her eyes everything around her was pitch black. She began to get panicked and breathed heavily in and out. … She was dead… He had poisoned her… Was this what's waiting for her after her life was finished? Only Blackness?

--

And now a song:

_Hand of Sorrow_

_The child without a name grew up to be the hand  
To watch you, to shield you or kill on demand  
The choice he'd made he could not comprehend  
His blood a grim secret they had to command_

_He's torn between his honor and the true love of his life  
He prayed for both but was denied_

_So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed  
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?  
So many years have past, who are the noble and the wise?  
Will all our sins be justified?_

_The curse of his powers tormented his life  
Obeying the crown was a sinister price  
His soul was tortured by love and by pain  
He surely would flee but the oath made him stay_

_He's torn between his honor and the true love of his life  
He prayed for both but was denied_

_So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed  
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?  
So many years have past, who are the noble and the wise?  
Will all our sins be justified?_

_Please forgive me for the sorrow, for leaving you in fear  
For the dreams we had to silence, that's all they'll ever be  
Still I'll be the hand that serves you  
Though you'll not see that it is me_

_So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed  
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?  
So many years have past, who are the noble and the wise?  
__Will all our sins be justified?_

_~ Within Temptation_

**AN:** Sooo, how was that? I know some of the song lyrics are not really fitting, but I think it's okay like that… mwahahahahahahahaha, poison… I am a genius…. Only wait to see what's happening next…. mwahahahaha


	16. III Chapter 16

**AN: I WANT MORE REVIEWS. ****IF I DON'T GET 3 REVIEWS UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY I WILL STOP THIS STORY**

**Chapter 16**:

The blonde girl in the dungeon was glaring at him all the time. He was a demonic soldier. At the moment he was ordered to pay attention that the princess wasn't able to flee away. He thought that was really silly because it was known that the magical barriers wouldn't let her out or any other one in to her.

So he sat on the little chair next to the little table, watching her. Well, that was the human princess. A pretty blonde girl, he had to admit. He suppressed more thoughts of this kind because he knew that he couldn't enter the dungeon after all. Only one of the high generals and the Southern Lord were able to. Therefore he continued amused watching her pouting. She had been really shocked as she woke up and had seen where she was. But she didn't seem to want to talk to any demon so she just sat there glaring angry at him. But then something happened. It was about one o'clock am. Suddenly she screamed and bent down. The guard jumped from his seat and rushed to the steal bars.

"Hey you! What's wrong?!" He yelled at her. Then he saw blood coming from both her arms. She screamed louder and fell to the ground where she clinched her wrists to stop the bleeding while she still screamed.

Confused and scarred by that what he saw the soldier ran off to call someone who could help him. How was it possible that these wounds appeared out of nowhere? What the hell did she have?! An illness? But what illness caused sudden wounds like that?! He ran over the court and into the area where the doctor had his residence. There he hammered loudly at the door. Sleepy an old man opened the door.

"What?" He barked. "Do you know how late it is? And now go away and let me sleep!" Then the doctor slammed the door directly into his face.

Angry the soldier knocked again. Furious the doctor opened the door again. He bared his sharp fangs and growled. "Listen, let me sleep now. AND GO AWAY!"

Not knowing what to do he ran towards the residence of the Southern Lord. Perhaps he could help. But there he was stopped by the lord's bodyguards. He had to explain everything to them and they made him stay there for a detailed report. That took nearly an eternity and finally after one hour he was finally allowed to talk to the Southern Lord.

As soon as the powerful demon heard what happened he scolded his bodyguards and asked them why they hadn't let the soldier talk to him earlier. He also sent someone to the doctor to scold with him. The Southern Lord himself hurried off to the dungeons. But it was too late. The blonde lay lifeless on the ground. She didn't move and didn't breathe anymore. As the doctor eventually came he said that she was dead.

"She may be bled to death because of the marks at her arms." The doctor explained after taking one short look at her. "Where did she have the wounds from?"

And so the soldier explained again everything.

Furious the Southern Lord stepped outside. Why could nothing be according to HIS plan?! He ordered to put her into a coffin. Perhaps he could use her corpse to demonstrate his power. She was to be killed after all. And it only made a very little difference if she was killed now and showed on the place in front of the human church or if she would be killed there. He hoped that it had the same effect. Until then he wanted her to stay in that coffin in the cellar.

--

Chrno watched the whole scene from his window. He sighed and turned around. There he leaned with is back on the windowsill and covered his eyes with is left hand. He was shaking a little and had to calm down. Unbelievable that he had really done that. But the only way for her had been to die.

--

Panicked Rosette still breathed in and out heavily – hey! Breathing still worked! But she really imagined it differently… She had always thought that there was more than only blackness in the afterlife… She wanted to run her hand over her face but suddenly she bonged against something hard.

"Ouch!" She yelled. Then she started to grope over the surface of the hard thing there. Then knocked on it.

"-tta?"

Hu? Was that a voice? Another dead soul calling her? IF she was dead…

"Rozetta?"

Again! And it was Chrno calling her! Now she didn't understand anything… he had poisoned her… she had died, but she wasn't dead and in ehm… a box? Yeah a box as it looked like. And what was he now doing here?!

Suddenly there was a bright light. Was that the entrance to heaven? She had to cover her eyes with her arms which still hurt because of the stigmata.

"Thank God! You're awake, Rozetto!" She could recognise Chrno's face in front of her. Obviously the bright light was a lamp he was holding in his hand. He noticed that the lamp blinded her and put it down next to him. Next thing Rosette knew was that she felt him lifting her up in his arms and taking her out of the box which was a coffin she noticed later. He let her down next to the coffin on the ground so she could sit there. But he still had his hand on her shoulder in order to hold her if she would faint or something like that. She had just woken up and was still weak. After she calmed down she … bonged him hard on the head.

"Hey! What was this for?!" He protested.

"Do you even know how much you scarred me?! AND YOU POISONED ME!!! Hey – if you poisoned me… why am I living again?" She wondered and looked up to him.

He grinned happily at her. "Well my dear. Yes it was poison, but it didn't kill you. It only made you seem dead. The heartbeat is slowing down as well as your breathing. All doctors would think you're dead. Same poison Juliet uses in Rome&Juliet. As I said you have to be dead to come out of the dungeon. They wouldn't let a corpse lie in it. They would have to take it out and then you're free… well as soon as you left the castle… And look, it worked… We have only to work on the coming-out-of-the-castle thing. Here you have a cloak. Put its hood over your head. It's not the best disguise, but it's better than nothing."

Rosette nodded, rubbed her head and took it from him. He himself was wearing a cloak as well.

The girl still felt a little bit dizzy and had a little headache. All of a sudden Chrno turned his head to the ceiling and narrowed his eyes.

"Someone's coming. Can you walk?" He said shortly. "No, wait. Can you RUN?"

The blonde wasn't able to hear something. There were no footsteps or something similar. She wondered how Chrno knew that there was someone. But actually she wasn't really interested in that. She only wanted to get out of here. She got up on her feet. The headache was a little bit stronger for a little moment and she had to find balance first, but that was done really fast. Together they left the chamber in the cellar. Chrno stayed close to her all the time – just in case she would feel dizzy and lose balance again.

Now the girl was able to hear footsteps as well. They were coming towards them very fast.

"Hurry up." Chrno hissed to her and started running fast while he held her by her hand to drag her after him. He pulled her upstairs and forward on a little corridor. The sounds and noises from outside were louder now. Something must have happened there or else there wouldn't be so many people shouting through the building especially not at night. By a look out of the window Rosette could see that everything was dark outside.

"Hey, how long have I been sleeping?" She asked while running.

"About two days." Chrno turned his head over his shoulder to look at her for some seconds.

Then they heard some loud shouts from outside. Rosette wasn't able to understand it. It was too muffled by the walls. Hearing that, Chrno pulled her forwards faster.

"Crap. They saw me entering the cellars. If they find the empty coffin we'll be in a lot, a real lot of trouble." He commented their situation. What was the best way to get outside unseen? The devil knew the castle by heart but nevertheless it was difficult to find a way outside without someone seeing them. On all exits were soldiers and guards. But perhaps they were lucky and they could escape through the northern gate. The problem was that that gate was on the other side of the castle. On the other hand it should work by using the ways only lower employees used.

The noise outside got louder. They had found the empty coffin. Chrno and Rosette had to hurry up or they wouldn't make it in time. By now nearly all inhabitants met in the court to see what happened. That on the other hand was good. It meant that the higher floors were empty and Chrno decided to use the ways there. Unfortunately he heard that soldiers were sent out to look for them. They even nearly bumped into one as they wanted to run around a corner. He saw them and followed them. Great. Now it wouldn't take long until others would come as well. Chrno let go off Rosette and told her to take the right corridor while he took the left one.

Because they parted and ran into different directions, the soldier was confused at first. But then he decided to follow Rosette. With a drawn sword he chased her. Like it's always in those situations Rosette stumbled accidentally and fell down. (AN: lol, it's really always like that…) The soldier raised his sword in order to hit her with it. She screamed and closed her eyes, awaiting the final strike.

It never came. Only a loud CLING and a BONG was heard. As she opened her eyes again she saw the soldier lying on the ground, his sword next to him. Between her and the soldier another cloaked person with a white sword stood.

"Are you okay?" Chrno asked and helped her on her feet again. She answered him that everything was alright. Again he started to drag her with him. He also told her that he had met some other soldiers and that they had to get out of here as soon as possible.

Then footsteps were heard in front of them behind a corner.

The purple head cursed and stopped directly. "This way." He opened a door and pulled her inside. It was only a little room. Perhaps something like a sort of a recreation room for employees. Fortunately nobody was there. But on the other hand they were trapped in here. There were no other doors except for the one they had come from. But Chrno didn't have any intentions to stop. He opened a window and looked outside. The room was in the third floor of the building, but just on this side of the building was a deep trench which bordered the whole building. It was about 40 metres to the ground.

"No, I'm not climbing down there. No, forget it." Rosette protested after she had looked down.

"Who said we're climbing?" The next thing Rosette knew was that he lifted her up and jumped down. Rosette screamed because they were falling down rapidly. To her surprise Chrno landed amazingly softly at the ground.

"Come on. There should be a way out of the ditch." He said as it would be the most normal thing to jump down there.

"Wait a minute, please." Rosette stopped him and made him turn around to face her. "Are you hurt?" The side of the dress that had been close to Chrno during the fall was sucked with blood.

"That's not important." He wanted to turn around, but she didn't let him.

"Oh, it is. What happened?" She asked him loudly. Chrno didn't seem impressed either. At least on the outside. He was taught to hide his feelings in such situations as well as he was able to. If he showed them, his enemy could find weak points. So he nearly always wore his poker face at the moment in order not to show how much wounded he was. But inside he knew that he should better tell her the truth. He knew she was angered fast and he didn't want her to give him one of her famous noogie attacks.

"Haven't you wondered why the soldier a few minutes ago didn't hit you with his sword? – he hit me." With that he turned around again to look for a way they could use to climb out of the ditch. Rosette quickly followed.

"You got hurt protecting me?" It was more a realization than a question. Chrno noticed that her face turned sad. Because he was able to read thoughts he knew that she felt guilty and was really sorry for that. She didn't want anyone to be harmed because of her.

"Nya, it's not as bad as it look like. Now come on. I'm okay, really. Let's better see how to get outta here." He smiled at her to cheer her up a bit.

"Hey, you're a demon, right. Then, can't we fly? That would be faster." She suggested in order to switch the topic.

"That's too dangerous. They could see us. And I would have to switch into my demon form. Then I would have a stronger demonical aura and they would be able to detect us. No, I better stay like this." He continued walking, not looking back to her.

--

**AN: **Sorry, no song lyrics now XDDD I still can't get rid of the other song 'hand of sorrow' from the last chapter.

But now really. It wasn't really a surprise that he didn't really kill her, now was it? I knew it is obviously, but I'm only happy that I have some new ideas for that story…

**I WANT MORE REVIEWS. ****IF I DON'T GET 3 REVIEWS UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY I WILL STOP THIS STORY**


	17. III Chapter 17

**AN:** So, I finally got some reviews, therefore I decided to upload the next chapter today^^

If you review more often, I will upload faster. It only depends on you when the next chapter comes because I have already written 42 chapters for that story…

**Chapter 17:**

Chrno and Rosette had finally made it to come out of the ditch. Because it had rained only a few days ago the ground was all muddy and they've had their problems climbing out of it. Now all their clothes were dirty. At least it was one of these warm nights. Thick fluffy clouds were hanging in the sky, but tonight it didn't look like it would start to rain. The full moon lightened everything up... if it wasn't covered by one of the clouds.

Anyways., Chrno just helped Rosette with the last part. Then she was out as well. They looked at the castle for a last time. Chrno sighed deeply, but suddenly he turned his head abruptly to one side of the castle. He wasn't sure if Rosette could see it too, but he COULD see it.

His father was walking next to the parapet. His face distorted by his anger. Chrno gulped. NOW he was in great trouble… His father scanned the area and shot a furious glare at his son as he found him. He shouted his name and pointed at him. Then he said something to Aion who had been following him.

Chrno knew he hadn't been best friends with Aion in the last years, but would he really dare to attack him, his own brother, if their father told him to?

And now Aion was sent to them. Realizing too late that they had to flee away, Chrno and Rosette were running towards the forest. It was still too far away. A little meadow was between the forest and the castle. Just as they reached the middle of the meadow Aion landed in front of them with a drawn sword. In contrast to Chrno's sword Aion's was all black. The white haired one pointed with it on his brother and the blonde. They had to stop.

"I told you it was a bad idea, Chrno." Aion said, prepared for fighting. "Change your mind and come back to us again. You're just ruining your own life!" He said loudly so the father could hear it in the distance (remember demon ears are better than human's, but there's still a big distance between them) "I have the order to fight you and to kill you if you don't come back." Aion said self-confident. He didn't seem to have only one little doubt on himself.

"How can you just say that to your own brother…" Chrno hissed back and went in front of Rosette to protect her in case Aion should attack them. "And to your question. I've made my decision. You can't change it. Get out of my way. Now." He didn't want to fight with his brother, but now it didn't seemed like there was a way around it.

After some seconds of silence Aion was the first who attacked. Rapidly Chrno drew his own sword and parried the black blade. A series of strikes with the swords followed. They got faster and faster.

Terrified Rosette took some steps back, on this way she wasn't in their way and she wouldn't be hurt. She wanted to help Chrno but there was no possibility for her to do so. The girl didn't have any kind of weapon and to attack with no weapons was too dangerous…

--

The Southern Lord smirked. That was a test his sons had to pass. They had to be loyal. If they weren't they would be a shame for himself and his family. And such a shame had to be erased. If Chrno didn't come back and apologized for that what he had done (he would be also punished) he had to die. That's how the things were. But the lord liked Aion's behaviour. He would even kill his own twin to be loyal to his other family and the family reputation. With a last smirk he turned and leaned on the window sill. He would watch the scene for 5 more minutes. Then he would go down to solve all other problems. Aion would have no problems with defeating Chrno. He had always been the better fighter…

--

The two blades crossed again. Suddenly Aion whispered something Chrno hadn't expected.

"The path we used as kids in the forest is free. " Some more strikes followed. Chrno spun around just to cross the blades with Aion again.

"What?" Chrno asked under his breath. This time Aion spun around.

"PST!" He hissed and nodded to the spot there their father was. "The path in the north will be free. It will lead to the mountains." Again some strikes, spins, jumps and all other fighting stuff followed.

"I won't betray my own twin, dear brother." Aion added quickly. He didn't speak very loud because his father would be able to hear him if he spoke normal. "But it has to look like a real fight to father. As soon as he's gone, you can go. I'll say I've lost the fight. Good luck." He said and aimed with his sword at Chrno's arm and hit it lightly, only causing a little cut. After ten minutes more they realized that their father had gone. Puffed they stopped fighting.

"You'll better be on your way then. Time to say goodbye. I guess I'll never see you again." Aion told them and spread his wings to fly away.

"Aion." Chrno made him stay for one second more. "Thanks."

"No problem, bro." he smiled sadly at them and returned to the castle.

--

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" The Southern Lord was furious. (AN: O.o he still hasn't got a real name XD) Aion winced under his father's roaring and backed away.

"REPEAT WHAT YOU'VE JUST SAID!" He continued yelling at the younger one.

"I've lost. They fled away. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to do anything against it. Please father forgive m–" Aion begged and backed further away.

"THIS CAN'T BE FORGIVEN: THAT WAS ONE VERY SIMPLE TASK! ONE SIMPLE TASK! AND YOU LET THEM GO! DO YOU KNOW HOW IPORTANT THE GIRL WAS FOR THIS WAR?!!!"

"And of cause you are only thinking of the war and not of your son!" Aion screamed back. Immediately he clapped his hand over his mouth. That had been no good idea…

"How dare you to talk to me like that." The father said in a scarring calm voice.

Biting his lower lip Aion took all the courage he had. He lifted his sword one more time and aimed on the other man – even though he knew he had no chance against him.

"I told you to think more of your sons." Aion repeated again. "And I can talk to you like I want." Okay, that had now really been a bad idea. His father was much stronger than he was. At least he had said goodbye to Chrno… But what was with all the others? His friends, his secret girlfriend and all others?

--

Chrno and Rosette had reached the forest. Even though Rosette needed a break from all that running, Chrno pulled her forward. He did that until he thought that they were far away enough. Heavily breathing Rosette sat down where she had just been standing and run with her hand through her hair. Chrno told her to wait a second and vanished behind some plants. The blonde wasn't very comfortable there she was now and sat down next to a big tree. It was scarring alone in this forest… The forest was so much more scarring than the one at home.

About quarter an hour later Chrno came back with the reins of an equus umbraticus in his hand. On its saddle were many bags and a blanket. Rosette wasn't able to see what colour they were. It was too dark. Rosette got up to go to him.

"All the bags are packed. There's food and something to drink. It will last for three days. And there's also a new dress for you to change and a blanket for the night. Oh, and some bandages for the stigmata. I prepared everything in the noon before you awoke. The horse knows the way. It will bring you over the mountains to the convent you used to live in once. From there on you should find your way." He told her and held the reins to her.

"You're not coming with me?" Rosette asked surprised and starred down at the reins in his hand..

Chrno shook his head sadly. "There's still much to do for me here. I can't just leave. I guess I have to help Aion at first. I'm sure he's having a big problem with our father now… I should better hurry up…"

"Oh, sure. I understand that." Rosette nodded. "Well then… if that's farewell…" She stepped closer to him and hugged him tightly.

After they let go of each other again Chrno seemed a little sad. Out of the blue he lifted her up and sat her on the horse.

"It's really better for you to go now before they're finding you." He gave a sign to the horse and it turned around and began to gallop along the path. Rosette turned around in the saddle and wanted to protest, but it was too late. The distance between them grew bigger and she only saw him smiling at her before changing into his demon form and flying away.

"That idiot…" She muttered with some little tears coming into her eyes.

--

"How can you dare revolt against your own father?" The old demon growled loudly. He was standing on the terrace in the second floor. Nobody else was there, except for Aion who was standing with a drawn sword in front of him.

"You've never been a father to us, to me and Chrno. You were always away, always somewhere else to do your stupid business. And if you were at home you've never talked a lot to us. You only scolded us. You don't even know us. We were just two kids living in your castle. When we got older we were only some sort of messenger running through the kingdom and spreading out some stupid messages about war. NO, you've never been a real father to us." Aion burst out suddenly. "Do you know how it feels to grow up without a real father? But you only had eyes for your stupid war which will only bring death and pain. No, I don't want this anymore. This has to stop." Now the white haired devil growled as well and bared his fangs.

"I've never thought you would act like that. But I guess I was wrong." The father took his sword as well. "I can't allow you to revolt. So you have to deal with the consequences. Now show me what you've learned in you fighting lessons."

Both went sideward and in a circle around each other. Who would attack first?

--

Chrno had a bad conscience. First was because of him letting Rosette without any protection in the demonical kingdom and second was because of Aion. He only hoped that his brother was okay. At the moment Chrno was flying towards the castle. With his sensitive ears he could already hear the sound of crossing blades. That couldn't be a good sign. He speeded up and flew faster.

Arriving at the castle he landed on the roof at the left part of the castle. Looking carefully over the roof to the other side he could see two fighting silhouettes. Because of the voices he could hear that it were Aion and his father. He was also able to smell blood. Aion was much wounded and he was nearly at the end. Chrno saw him stumble and falling down. Now the father stood in front of him with his sword aimed at Aion's chest.

Crap. Chrno had to do something. He didn't have time anymore to jump or fly down to them. So he concentrated and formed a blue energy ball with his hands. This blue energy ball was shot on the Southern Lord. Chrno didn't even try to aim. He had to be fast and it would be enough to get his father's attention so Aion could escape. As the energy ball exploded the whole place was lightened up by a bright blue light.

Chrno hit his father directly at the head. The Southern Lord collapsed and lay motionless on the ground. Shocked Chrno climbed down. Aion was already on his feet again. He didn't look really good and had lots of injuries. Both hurried to their father.

"Did you kill him?" Aion asked.

"I-I don't know." Chrno stuttered. "I haven't thought that I would even HIT him…" Speechless he knelt down beside him. Suddenly the motionless body in front of him transformed to dust. A little wind came and blew it away.

Shocked the twin didn't move. It took more than 10 minutes to get the control over themselves again.

"He's dead." One of them whispered.

"What are we gonna do now?" Chrno asked panicked. "We killed our father, we killed the Southern Lord!"

Aion just nodded. "And one of us is going to take in his place."

"And who? We're twins! The rule with the 'older one gets the title' doesn't work!" Chrno said and got up from his kneeling position.

Aion looked seriously at him. "Then we're both gonna be the next Southern Lords at the first time. Later on I think you should be the Southern Lord alone."

Surprised Chrno turned his head to him. That absolutely didn't fit to Aion. Aion had always been the leader guy who wanted to have more power and so on. And now he just gave the title of the Southern Lord with all its powers to him? That was absolutely suspicious.

"What are you up to?" Chrno narrowed his eyes. The serious expression in Aion's face faded into a happy grin. "Well dear brother. I'd like to help you in the first time and we're going to be the Southern Lords. But actually I planed on being the next Eastern Lord."

"And how do you want to do that?!"

"Well, do you know the Eastern Lord's, or better Defaux' daughter Rizelle? Don't tell anyone, but she's my secret girlfriend. I'm planning on marrying her and taking over her father's place… as soon as he is dead or I have the permission to marry her."

"Wow. Concrats! So you asked her to marry you? When?"

"Uh…."

"You DID ask her, right?"

"Uh not yet…. But I'm pretty sure she'll say yes because she's in love with me and I'm in love with her… Even though I loved her a little bit too much the last time and if Defaux knows that he'll kill me… or even worse: castrate me! Anyways, until I'm the Eastern Lord, I'm helping you here."

**AN: **What? Aion doesn't always have to be the evil one. I really like him (but only in the Manga). And I'm pretty sure MariamTiarko likes that too…

**Don't forget to review!!!**


	18. III Chapter 18

**AN****: **I am very happy with you guys^^ I got lots of reviews which means that you get lots of chapters^^

Oh, and I had to rewrite that chapter a hundred times… I apologize if it seems a little bit odd…

**Chapter 18:** (Hey, cool, already 18 =D and I have lots more ideas fort his fanfic =D =D =D)

The demonic horse brought Rosette safely through the forest. After the first five minutes it had slowed down its speed and had trotted along the path. Fortunately the equus umbraticus knew the way. Rosette herself would be totally lost in this unknown area.

The forest looked everywhere the same and in addition to this there were special kinds of trees the blonde had never seen on the other side of the mountains. Some looked really beautiful but others were kind of scary with their dark bark and the few leaves. Just like in one of this horror stories.

She wondered how Chrno had even found the way to the mountains so many many years ago. Now her thoughts were with him again. Already as little child she had really liked him (and his funny accent) and she still had liked him when they had met after the attack of the palace. After he had betrayed her and handed her to the demons, she couldn't believe that he had really done that. He had always very kind and friendly to her. She just couldn't imagine that he had changed so much in the last few years. Anyways, she hadn't been able to hate him after he betrayed her. One part of her had been disappointed of him; the other part sad and a third part angry. But in the end he had helped her. He even risked getting wounded to protect her and getting into trouble just to help her. She couldn't be mad at him anymore… She couldn't help it, but she really liked him. And she also noticed that she more than liked him… And that stupid idiot just said goodbye before she could tell him. Rosette crossed her arms and pouted.

She didn't have to hold the reins; the horse did everything by itself. And now she didn't know when she would see Chrno next time. What a pity… The woman in the inn had been right… she should have taken him as long as she had a chance to do so… even though her family wouldn't have been very pleased…

While she was thinking she didn't noticed how fast the time was passing by and that her surroundings had changed. The forest was clearing and there were fewer trees. She could already see the mountains. With every minute they were coming closer. And it was only noon, plus or minus some hours. Wait. What time was it? Rosette shaded her eyes with on hand and looked into the sky. The sun was already over its zenith, meaning it was afternoon, perhaps two or three o'clock.

In the later afternoon she had arrived at the beginning of the mountains by now. The way wasn't very steep at the moment. But that could change fast. Everywhere around the way there were big rocks which had rolled down the mountains. Only some single trees were standing lonely in the landscape. The ground was covered with grass and moss.

Suddenly the animal under her stopped abruptly and pricked up. It snorted loudly and continued starring in this direction. Now Rosette heard it too. She heard the footsteps of some horses on the hard ground and a male voice. It was too far away to understand him or to recognise him by his voice. Rosette gasped. She had to go away from here. These devils would surely not be nice to her.

Better she used another way which would lead away from the demons. But what if they were searching in the whole forest for her? In every direction? Then she would have a problem. Nevertheless she turned her horsie to the left and galloped along a smaller path. It led away from the main way. After a little bit the path went around a corner to the right and now the way was getting steeper. Because of the big rocks Rosette wasn't seen from the main way.

--

"Hey, did you hear that, Prince Joshua?" One of the soldiers said. King Vinsent had ordered the best five soldiers to go and free Rosette. They were only five soldiers because more would attract the devils' attention earlier. Joshua had insisted of coming with them. He wanted to help his sister as well. Fortunately he hadn't been sick again during the last time.

Within a few days they had arrived at the bordering mountains. But it took nearly half a day until they found a way which led to the other side. Two days later they finally arrived at the other side. Now they were in the demonic kingdom. In the distance they could see a forest, but the area they were at the moment was rather meagre.

"Did you just hear that?"

"No, what did you hear?" Joshua asked and turned to the one who was riding next to him.

"I just thought I was hearing a galloping horse… Perhaps it was just my imagination." The man explained and shrugged his shoulders. Only five minutes later a little path led away from the main way to the right. On its ground were fresh hove traces.

"I don't mind him or her riding in this direction. As long as he or she doesn't come back… Let's better go on looking for Rosette. The demons have to have something like a castle here where they hide her…" Joshua purposed and gave the horse a sign to go on.

(AN: Lol, Rosette and Joshua just missed each other XD)

Later on, it dawned by now, they had already arrived at the forest and they had been going through it for more than two and a half hour now. Suddenly one of the soldiers pointed at something between the leaves. As the others brushed the leaves away they saw it as well. There, behind that big bush, the woods began to clear, next was a big meadow and behind it a big sand coloured castle. Joshua cheered. Eventually they had success with the search. Sure it could be possible that Rosette wasn't there, but the blonde boy just hoped she was there.

Suddenly the men behind him screamed. Joshua quickly turned around. But to that time he was also lifted out of the saddle. A big scaring monster carried him on the back of his shirt. The other humans weren't in a better situation either. The demon said something to them. The only thing Joshua could understand was 'barbarbar'. The demons spoke a whole lot different language than he did. Great. And he and his soldiers weren't able to defend themselves because the devils had lifted them up and now they even started to fly. They brought them into the castle. Afraid to fall down Joshua decided not to move quickly. He didn't really look forward crashing down there on the ground. During the flight they growled something to them rudely. Again the others couldn't understand. Joshua got panicked. What would now happen with them? If he had understood the devils he could have tried to persuade them to let them free. Well, that had been improbably anyways, I mean, they were demons!!!

In the castle they were directly put into some sort of dungeon and the demonic warrior again growled something. Then he went away. With all their strength Joshua and his guards tried to get out, but it seemed impossible.

Only half an hour later the door was opened and three other demonic creatures spoke to them. Didn't they see that they didn't understand them? Each of these devils took two soldiers by their arm to drag them outside except for one who only took a hold of Joshua. With fast steps they led them through the building. The room they were brought to was in the third floor. The furnishing looked expensive and noble. The room seemed to be something like an office. Inside the demons let go of them and stood in front of the door so Joshua and Co. couldn't escape. There they stayed emotion- and motionlessly.

A door to the left was opened. A purple haired teenager went in. He wore ordinary but still expensive clothes and a white sword on his belt. Joshua stunned. This guy didn't look much older than he himself, perhaps two years older or so. And he even looked human! But obviously he was the boss here. With a finger motion he told the other demons to leave.

"I'm sorry that my employees treated you like that. They didn't know who you are. I apologize for them. Please take a seat." The purple head said with a strange accent and pointed to some chairs which were standing in front of the desk. He himself sat down in the big chair behind the desk. Where had he learned their language anyways?!

"There is my sister?" Joshua burst out. The first soldier told him to calm down. The wrong behaviour could mean death in the demonic kingdom.

"At first I'd like to know who you are." The demon didn't seem to be impressed. "My name is Chrno and I'm the Southern Lord."

"Aren't you a little bit young to have that title?" Joshua asked and earned another reproving glance by the soldier.

"Actually yes… And actually I've been being the Southern Lord since yesterday." Chrno chuckled and leaned his head on his palm. "You still didn't tell me who you are. I guess you are Prince Joshua, Rosette's brother. Am I right?

Joshua nodded surprised. "Where did you know?"

"You look and smell a little bit like her." Chrno leaned back and watched them all. "And what's about you?" He addressed the soldiers. They told him – only reluctant – who they were and what they wanted.

"What a pity. Rosette was just here. You just missed her. But actually you should have met her if you used the northern way over the mountains." The demonic teen explained them.

"She fled away?" Joshua asked relieved.

"No. I let her go."

Speechless all starred at Chrno. Why should a _demon_ let her go? That was unbelievable.

"Well, as I said. We've had some changes here in the Southern county in the last time. I let her go and took over my father's place afterwards. She should be at that Magdala convent on the other side within the next two days or so. – You don't believe me, right? Well, I tell you the truth. Believe it or not. But I tell you one other thing as well. I don't want a war between the human and the demonic world. It only brings disadvantages for both sides. I don't want my county to get included in the whole war situation. Therefore I let your sister go."

After a while Joshua began to wonder more and more about the demon's behaviour. He acted way too… well human and friendly… Joshua had always thought different of devils. But actually Chrno seemed to be quite nice. He didn't threaten them, no, he talked to them politely, sometimes even in a more chatting-likely manner…

"Well, anyways. Rosette isn't here anymore. As said before she's going home. And now to you. It's already late in the evening. I can offer you to stay here as my guests. Or you can leave – whatever you want. I promise you won't be attacked by any demons in _my_ county. You're free to leave or stay." Chrno explained and looked at the persons who were sitting in front of him. "What do you say?"

The first soldier – it was their commander – told him that they thanked him for his offer and because it would be impolite, they would stay over night. It was a great opportunity to get an armistice with at least one of the demon counties. So they better didn't anger the Southern Lord by rejecting his offer.

However the humans weren't really happy about their situation now. Staying in a castle full of demons over night… great…

"Alright. My employees are going to show you your rooms. I hope everything is to your contentment. If you have any more questions you can ask me. Good night." Chrno nodded and called the three demons inside again. He said something to them in this other language. The servants bowed and symbolized Joshua & Co. to follow them. They showed each of them a room for the night. The rooms were tidy and big. There was a window, a wardrobe, a bed and a desk in it. The floor was covered with some beautiful carpets, some pictures hung on the wall.

During the night Joshua wasn't able to fall asleep that fast. His thoughts were with his sister. How had she been able to escape? How had she been able to convince the (now) Southern Lord of letting her go?

Then he noticed something important. What was his name again? Chrno?! Hadn't Rosette said that the name of her "imaginary" childhood friend had been Chrno? He had never believed his sister that he really existed, but perhaps she had been right the entire time? What if Chrno only hadn't wanted him – Joshua – to see him because he hadn't been – or still wasn't – human and because it had been too dangerous with a second person knowing him in the human area. The exorcists would have killed him if they had known, that's for sure. So it was only logical for Chrno to hide. That was a possibility. On this way it had been easier for the girl to get free… But now she was travelling around alone? Wasn't that dangerous? Joshua was worried about his sister.

--

It had rained in the morning and it was still going on raining during the day. Sister Kate was working in her office listening to the sound of the falling rain at the roof and the windows. Suddenly the woman was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. A nervous nun entered the room.

"Sister Kate. It's really important. Here's someone you have to talk to." The younger nun said. Kate told her to let the person in.

"Good morning, Sister Kate." A fully wet Rosette greeted the headnun. Shocked and surprised at the same time Kate's pen fell down on the floor while the woman starred at her.

--

The blonde girl hadn't rested much during the night, only a few hours. In the morning she had already arrived at the forest she had always played in. Again she cursed about the cold rain pouring down. Her mood lightened up as she saw the convent in the distance. Finally she was at a place where she knew the people and the surroundings. So she went directly to the convent. There she wanted to talk to Sister Kate. A young nun brought her to the office. As Kate saw her, the shock was written in her face. Later the headnun explained that everyone in the kingdom thought she was a) dead or b) kidnapped by some cruel demons. Happy and relieved to see the princess uninjured the woman in black and white clothes went to her and hugged her shortly. Afterwards Rosette was brought to her old room. There she should take a bath at first. Because of the cold rain the girl was shivering and needed some warmth before telling everything to Kate. The warm water was nice and relaxing. When she was done in her private bathroom next to her bedroom, she opened her bag which had been on the saddle bags before. Rosette didn't have any clothes here anymore. She had taken all with her as she went. So she decided to wear the one Chrno had given to her. He had said it was somewhere in the bags. The dress wasn't like she expected it to be. She expected a more normal dress, but this one was beautiful and with some nice violet embroidery at the décolleté.

**AN:** Thanks to all who reviewed and please go on reviewing =D It makes me happy to read what you're thinking.


	19. III Chapter 19

**AN: ** So, you've all been good readers and reviewed a lot^^ As said, I'll upload faster when I get lots of reviews and I keep my promise. Here you have the next chappie.

…

sorry, that's probably going to be a filler-chapter

**Chapter 19:**

_Flash back:_

In the evening after their father had died Chrno and Aion had to deal with all the changes which were supposed to be done now. They were also announced as the new Southern Lords. Now they had a lot of work with all the documents and letters in their new office. Everything their father had left was a mess of sheets of papers, letters and only more sheets of papers. Pulling a face Chrno sat down behind the desk and started to arrange everything. He soon figured out that it was too much work to do alone, so Aion helped him. His white haired brother wasn't really enthusiastic either and together they sat in this stupid office for more than the half night. All the time they complained about the stupid work.

Letting out a heavy sigh Chrno put the last sheet of paper on a heap while Aion mumbled: "Why couldn't the old man tidy up his office from time to time…"

"Yeah, that would have been a great help." Chrno agreed with him. Afterwards he said good night and went to his room to rest a little bit. There the room was lightened up with some candles and lamps. They gave a dim orange shimmer to everything. The purple head looked at his big tidy bed with the big pillows and decided that he wasn't that tired. So he stayed up longer. He took a bath in the bathing room next door. How could he have forgotten how beautiful a hot bath was… Afterwards he changed in some clothes more comfortable than the ones he just had worn. So far so good. Now his body got some rest and relaxed. But his oul was still wake and far away from the relaxed state.

The whole time he was worried about the situation now. Rosette was now on her way back. That was good. He hoped that she would make it alone.

Then he remembered again something. The day he had seen her in the dungeon a strange scent had led him to her. It hadn't been her normal scent. Plus it appeared first to the time she got the stigmata. He didn't really know. Had stigmata an own scent? Obviously they had. He smelled the same scent again as he helped her coming out of the castle. That time it had been less strong because the stigmata had already started to heal. But anyways, Chrno had never smelled something like that before. It was a strange scent, but pleasant at the same time. On the other hand he had a weird feeling smelling it. The first time he had smelled it, it changed him into a trance or dream walking like state. The time afterwards he had to fight against that trance within his soul. Every time he smelled the scent there was an urge within him to go into this trance state.

He shook his head. Either the stigmata or their scent had a special effect on him. And that was what he was worried about.

And now to another thing. A war was coming and Chrno doubted that it was avoidable. Surely not. Everybody (except for the Western Lady) had agreed to the war and soon the Western Lady had been convinced as well. Chrno had already talked to Aion. Both didn't want to be involved in this war. They would tell the other Lords and generals as soon as possible. But Chrno was afraid how they would react to that. The possibility was there that they saw it as some sort of betrayal to the demonic kingdom. Chrno sighed and run his hand through his dark hair. Why did all the trouble always come to him?

The next evening the twins had dinner. It was so lonely that the table since both, mother and father weren't there anymore. And there weren't other relatives except for their aunt, uncle and cousin who lived too far away to come over for dinner.

Suddenly a servant with all green clothes stormed into the room and interrupted their dinner. He bowed hectically and told them that they found some humans in the woods. The guards had brought them to the dungeons. Aion and Chrno exchanged glances. Aion suggested talking to them to find out what they wanted here. Chrno nodded and said he would do that because he was the only one here speaking their language.

As he entered the office he saw six men, one of them younger than Chrno himself. The youngest one attracted Chrno's attention. He had light blonde hair and light blue eyes as well. It was directly clear that he was somehow related to Rosette. They looked much alike. The scent was alike as well. Furthermore he recognised him from the one single time he had seen him in the forest together with Rosette. It was her brother. If Chrno remembered right his name was Joshua. So he had to be the crown prince.

The demon greeted them politely and apologized for the trouble. He introduced himself and told them that the Southern county wasn't a danger for the human kingdom. Perhaps this was a way to get an armistice with the humans. And perhaps the Southern county couldn't be involved in the war on this way. They could stay neutral between humans and demons. So Chrno told them and offered them a place for the night. The next morning the humans disappeared directly. Chrno asked them to give the message to the king as well.

--

Joshua was super happy that he could leave that creepy place again. The commander next to him had a serious face.

"This war gets more and more complicated." He said.

"Why?" Joshua asked. "Isn't it good for us that the Southern County is neutral?"

The commander shook his head and explained that sooner later it won't be neutral anymore. He knew how much pressure the other counties would put on it now to get it back again. That would cause only more problems. For example they could attack from the ambush. Or it could be an ambush at all. Joshua nodded understanding. There was so much he still had to learn.

--

Rosette put the nice dress on and went to talk to Sister Kate. The headnun wanted to talk to her immediately after the princess was done. The blonde knocked on the door and entered the headnun's office. The older woman sat on a brown couch with flower pattern. In front of her was a low table with a tray and tea. Both pieces of furniture were French styled. Rosette greeted Kate politely and sat down on the opposite site. There was a couch which looked just like the other one. Thankfully she took the herb tea which he got from Sister Kate.

"Where is your brother? Where are the others? Did you lose them?" Kate asked suddenly.

Rosette put the cup down and coughed loudly. What? What others? And what was with her brother? Exactly this was in her mind now and she asked Kate the same questions. Stunned the older woman looked at her.

"Didn't they free you?" She wanted to know. Slowly Rosette shook her head.

"I haven't seen them on my way back." The girl replied.

Sister Kate's eyes got wide. "You haven't seen them? But how did you escape?"

Rosette didn't really know how to explain her escape, so she decided to say: "Let's just say, that an old friend helped me."

Kate narrowed her eyes, but she didn't ask for more. Suddenly Rosette remembered the men she had heard in the mountains. Perhaps they had been his brother and the soldiers! Oh no! And she hid so that they couldn't find her! Oh, stupid her! She hoped that they weren't in danger…

"I'll send someone to look for them. Don't worry. But you have to return to your father immediately. That's his order. He doesn't want you being kidnapped again. He wants you to be at home. As soon as we've found Joshua and the others, they'll follow you." The nun told her.

"What? But I want to help searching my brother! I don't want to go home! I want to help him!" Rosette protested, but Kate glared sternly at her.

"I have my orders. I'm sorry, but I can't let you stay here. The carriage which will bring you home is already ready. It awaits you now." Kate said still very sternly. Then her voice softened again. "I'm happy you're back again. It's nice to see you're okay. Now go, your family awaits you."

Rosette tried again to convince Sister Kate that she could help here but it was useless. One hour later she sat in the carriage. Outside of the window she could see the huge land owned by the convent. Soon she left the convent area. How long would it take till she was there? The summer residence was further away than the capital city, so it would take too long… And she only had been in the carriage for one hour, but she was already bored as hell. Weren't there some muffins somewhere? Behind the bench in the food box perhaps…

Some days later they arrived at the capital city to take a break there. The damage the demons had caused was still seen and around the palace there was a huge scaffolding. On it some workers… well… the workers worked. Some buildings next to the palace looked burned. They lost their roofs and black charred beams were sticking out.

On the street there were more people than the last time Rosette had been here. Most of them had serious faces and many of them had some bandages over their injuries. Again Rosette saw how lucky she had been that she wasn't injured.

But it was the first time as well that she saw how much misery and pain the demon attack had caused. Sadness was shown on her face. How was she able to help all those people who lost their homes? She had to do something. She couldn't just ignore that all. A little girl caught her attention. She had a bandage around her head and pulled on her mother's skirt. Then she let go and looked into another direction. Suddenly her mother vanished in the crowd and the little girl was alone. As Rosette's carriage came she stopped crying for a moment and watched it with big eyes. Rosette just couldn't wait anymore. She told the driver to stop and got out of the carriage. Scarred the little kid plopped on her butt as Rosette came towards her.

"Hey there, little girl. Don't be scarred." Rosette said and patted her head. "Don't worry everything is gonna be okay. I'll bring you back to your mommy. Here, have a muffin if you want." The older girl took the muffin she had from the food box in the carriage and held it to the child.

Surprised the kid looked from her to the muffin and back again. Then she began to grin and took it from her. Rosette lifted her up in her arms and hurried through the crowd with her. The little girl's mother wasn't far away though. But nevertheless she had been worried about her kid and was calling for her. Relieved she thanked Rosette for bringing her back.

"No problem, really. Take care that she doesn't get lost again." Rosette answered.

"Of cause I will, Princess. Thank you so much. I wouldn't have found her again in this amount of people." The mother thanked her again.

Rosette waved goodbye and got in the carriage again.

The next morning they left the town again. Mostly their way led them through the forest. A cold wind blew. Autumn had come fast.

--

Relieved Joshua saw the well known silhouette of the convent in the distance. Although it was late in the night Joshua and the others hadn't rested. They wanted to arrive there as fast as possible to ask for Rosette. Did she find the right way? Well, Chrno at least seemed pretty sure that she wouldn't have any troubles… But Joshua didn't want to trust that demon… A little bit later they were there and Joshua talked with Sister Kate. She calmed him down and told him that his sister was okay. Happy to hear that, Joshua relaxed. He decided to leave the convent the next day to go home to his family as well.

--

**AN:** a stupid filler-chapter…. I needed nearly one month for this stupid chapter… that was about ¾ year ago…


	20. IV Chapter 20

_Part IV:__ (O.o actually I planned only 3 parts….)_

**Chapter 20:**

There in the distance, there was it. Joshua shaded his eyes and made his horse going faster. He wondered how long it would take until they arrived at the summer residence. As if he could read thoughts the commander told him: "We're arriving within the next hour."

And then they arrived. The summer residence was beautiful. It was on a hill and all around there were some meadows with pastures. Some cattle were lying in the sun far away on a meadow; some sheep were on another one. Distributed over the landscape you could see some little houses. A big way led up the hill. There was the sand coloured castle. In contrast to the palace this castle seemed very old, but it was in a good condition and well-groomed. It also had some high towers.

Joshua and the soldiers stopped in front of the huge massive wooden entrance gate. The commander went to a very little door in the gate. There he knocked and a little gap was opened. He told the guard to let them in and only some seconds later the gate started to open. As soon as it was enough open to ride through it, they entered the castle. Then they got off the horses and handed the reins to some servant who hurried towards them. To Joshua's relieve he saw Rosette coming towards him as well. Smiling she greeted him and hugged him tightly.

"You can't imagine how worried we all were!" Joshua told her quietly.

"Don't worry, little bro. I can take care of myself." Rosette, now grinning, let go of Joshua and took some steps backwards. "Let's go now. Dinner is surely ready. You must be very hungry after that long journey." Said and done. Rosette gripped Joshua's hand and dragged him with her to the dining room. Today the meal was especially good.

After the meal Joshua was also met and greeted by Azmaria outside on the yard. Rosette joined them later and together they watched the sunset. Soon the sun had gone down and there was only some pinkish purple light at the horizon. On the other side the sky was already black studded with stars. Today there were lots of shooting stars seen.

Azmaria soon decided to go inside again because it was too cold outside. Joshua went inside as well to talk to his father about the armistice.

So only Rosette remained outside. Being alone she decided to go into the library. There she found and interesting book and went with a little lamp into the yard again. There was a little bench where she sat down. She didn't want to sit inside all the time. She liked it more to be outside in the fresh air. Perhaps she would do the same tomorrow evening again.

Meanwhile Joshua knocked on Vinsent's office door. Although it was already late in the evening he had to talk to him. As he entered the room his father was just busy with a map. The map showed the whole kingdom and its adjacent countries. In the north there was the demonic kingdom, in the middle the human kingdom and in the south east on the other side of the sea there was another kingdom. Joshua didn't know the name of the third one, but it was relatively big and only some parts of it were on the map. Anyways in the north of the human kingdom next to the bordering mountains and in the south around Soronada there were some red circles. As Joshua asked his father what they meant, the king explained him that these were the point where the demons had attacked within the last three months. There had never been so many attacks before. Joshua bit his lips and told his father what happened in the demonic southern county. Vinsent leaned in his chair with his hands crossed in front of him and listened to him silently.

"He offered us an armistice, father." Joshua ended his talk.

Still silently Vinsent stayed in his thoughtful position. Then he nodded lightly.

"The whole thing gets more and more complicated. On one hand an armistice would be great. On the other hand it could be a trap. Demons are not stupid… They are tricky and insidious. We're not allowed to underrate them. Moreover only one of their counties wants am armistice. I wonder why it's neutral and not on the demonic side like expected…" The older man muttered more to himself than to his son.

"I don't know, father, but I think it has something to do with Rosette." Joshua suspected and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

Surprised Vinsent looked up. "Why should your sister have something to do with that?"

So Joshua told his father what he knew. When he was finished Vinsent shook his head.

"Why hasn't anybody told me that before?!" He ran his hand over his face. Now his face seemed tired. "Well, thanks for the information my son. I'll talk with the generals and commanders. If we should agree to that armistice, we have to be sure that it's not dangerous. Or I invite this Southern Lord to talk personally with him… I'm not doing an armistice with somebody I don't know."

--

Chrno and Aion decided not to talk to the Lords council until they knew for sure that they would stay neutral. The next meeting would be in two weeks. Until then they had enough time to negotiate with the humans. A little bit more than a week and a half had passed since Rosette, Joshua and all others were gone. If their journey had been without any troubles they had to be home now. Perhaps they even had sent a messenger to give the answer to Aion and Chrno. And so it was. Two days later a middle aged man with short brown hair stood in front of them with a letter in his hand. Chrno read through it and translated it quickly for Aion.

The king invited them in his summer residence. He wanted to talk to them and he wanted to talk about the armistice.

"Okay, I'll take care of our county and you'll go to speak with the human." Aion said directly.

"What? Why do I always have to travel around while you can stay here lying on your lazy butt?!" Chrno protested. During the last years he had really travelled much and everything he wanted was a little break.

"In case you should have forgotten: I don't understand what he tells me. I don't even understand that stupid letter there." Aion grumbled. "But be happy. You don't have to tidy up the office… we still haven't finished that and I hate this stupid paper work… If I could I would rather come with you out of this stupid castle…" He added quickly.

"Point for you…" Chrno had to admit. He sighed and asked the messenger who still stood there in front of him that he would come with him tomorrow. Meanwhile Aion called a servant to show a room to their guest.

Breakfast wasn't very much the next morning. Therefore wasn't much time. Chrno said goodbye to everybody and went outside in the yard. A saddled shadow-horse already awaited him. Next to it was the messenger with his own horse. He seemed tired. That was understandable. He was the only human in a castle full of demons and devils. Of cause he hadn't slept much because he was afraid something could happen. And he didn't felt comfortable now as well.

Chrno just over looked that and got on his horse. Then they left the castle. Within the next few days they arrived at the other side of the mountains. Oh, it would be so much easier to fly. What a pity that he had this human in tow, Chrno thought. If he flew he would be there in only two days or so. With the horse they almost needed one week. The purple haired devil let out a sigh again. Finally after nearly one week they arrived at their destination. The big castle was directly in front of them, about 10 minutes away. To Chrno's surprise it was of the same beige sand colour than the castles at home. It also didn't look like humans had built it. Perhaps it was one of the few castles that remained from the time before the humans had come. Once this had been demonic land after all - at least until the humans came.

Then again another thing came to his mind. He had already thought about it during the last time. Was it better to meet the king in his full demon shape or his human shape? Chrno wasn't really sure how the king would react. He didn't want to scare him with his full demon form. But in his human form he didn't look like a real Lord, he looked more like a normal teen in this form, not like a respect person. So he chose a mixture between both shapes. And now he was going to change into exactly this mixed form. The two ivory horns came out of his head. The wings were folded on the back. They were folded like some sort of cloak or cape. A normal human would consider them as one at least. The teeth and claws were pointed as well. The only things which were missing to his full form were the marks and rubies in his face, as well as the golden eyes and the bone tail coming out of his neck. Amused Chrno looked over to his guide who switched scarred to the other side of the street. To his misfortune the street wasn't very wide.

Two minutes later they arrived. Before the gate swung open Chrno took a deep breath and sat straight on his horse. Then they entered the castle. Some people already awaited them. Two servants came to take care of the horses after their owner got off. One of them screamed as Chrno's equus umbraticus vanished in the shadows. Hm, scarring humans was fun…

Chrno turned around to the other group of people. They were standing on the staircase to the main building. Because of their looking the demon could tell that that was the king and his highest generals. It was a honour to be greeted by the king himself and Chrno was conscious of that. He bowed in front of them like the politeness demanded it and spoke a greeting. The others replied his greeting. After a short talk and introduction Chrno was brought to his room where he could change his clothes and so on. Because they had arrived in the morning, Chrno had lunch there as well. In the afternoon he met the important personalities in one big office again. Then the typical talks began again. Slowly Chrno couldn't hear the word 'war' or 'armistice' anymore. Why did he have to be the Southern Lord? That was all so strenuous.

The conference lasted till late in the evening. Because I'm too lazy I'm not writing every conversation between them down, but in the end both, Chrno and Vinsent signed the armistice contract. Tired Chrno exited the office and stretched his arm. He took a look outside the window. It was already dark. Perhaps it would be better if he returned to his room now.

The way to his room led him through the yard. And there he saw her. Rosette was sitting on a bench reading a book in the light of a little lamp next to her. Chrno decided to go over to her and to say hello.

"Good evening, Rozetta." Chrno greeted her.

She looked up to him and scanned him shortly. "Should I know you?"

Like frozen he stood there. "Hu? What? You're kidding right? Of cause you know me!"

"I'm sorry, but no. So would you please let me read my book?" She turned her look away from him and turned over the page in her book.

"But Rozetto!" Chrno protested confused.

"My name is Rosette, not _Rozetto_. Now leave me alone or I'm calling for my guards." She was now glaring at him.

Chrno narrowed his eyes and took a step back. What was wrong with her all of a sudden?! She looked normal. But wait! Moment! He wasn't able to smell a scent! She didn't have a scent!

"You are not Rozetto." Chrno growled.

"Oh, yes I am. I am the _crown princess_." The last words had a special pronunciation. A smirk appeared on her lips.

Chrno growled and his eyes turned golden. Then he only hissed one word: " Shapeshifter…"

**AN:** Hey, wow, a complete chapter full of rubbish senseless stuff! But hey, this was again a filler chapter and I absolutely didn't know what to write… But I absolutely wanted to write that last part with Rosette.


	21. IV Chapter 21

**AN:** Hi~ Sorry that it took me longer to upload this time, but I had to do all homework & assignments fort his week at the weekend. My carnival break is also over and therefore it can take a little bit more time for me to upload. But I'll try to update every three days.

Have fun reading and don't forget to review^^

**Chapter 21:**

Ready to fight or jump out of the way Chrno stood there glaring at the shapeshifter looking like Rosette. The smirk in her face faded into a crooked grin. (AN: A grin like the woman in the marionette train) The fangs grew long and sharp. The orange light coming from the lamp gave her face a creepy look. Chrno let out a loud growl and bent his claws ready to attack if it was necessary.

"Tse, tse, tse." The false Rosette said with a faked innocent voice. "What do you want with those claws? I hope you don't want to hurt me with them." She covered her mouth with her right hand. In her eyes was a gloatingly expression.

"We'll see." Chrno hissed and took one step towards her. "Give the right Rosette back or I'll kill you."

The girl let out a short laugh. She didn't even think it would be necessary to get up from her sitting posture and then she crossed her legs.

"_I'm warning you."_ He growled louder now in his own language.

"I don't think so." She bared her sharp fangs while smirking.

More anger came over Chrno. He threatened her and she was just fooling around. Didn't that shapeshifter knew who he was?! _"Enough is enough." _He lifted his claws. They blinked in the dim light of the lamp. Faster than he had expected, Rosette got on her feet and waved with her index finger in front of his face.

"Ah- ah- ahhh. No, no, no, little demon." She whispered still in this innocent manner. "My '_father_', the king," she enjoyed saying that. "He wouldn't be very pleased if you kill his oh so beloved daughter. He would announce war immediately and you would be dead as well…" She came closer and played with one of his shoulder long purple hair strands. "One false movement of yours and I scream to wake up the whole castle. They'll come to rescue me and I guess you know what happens to nasty little demon in this country, don't you? "

F*ck. The little witch was right. He hadn't thought about that. So he forced himself to stay calm. Man, this situation was really not good. Now at this moment he wanted to rip that human pretending shapeshifter apart. It would have been easy. She didn't seem so strong, but she controlled the king and his followers. Angry he ground his teeth.

"Good boy." She purred. Then she pulled his face down to her and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Good choice, my dear." She cooed and brushed past him. Giggling she went into the next building.

"ARG!" Chrno shouted while tearing his hair with both hands. Abruptly he turned around and went into another building. The others had to know about that. Before entering the part of the castle which belonged to the royal family he stopped. Was it even a good idea to tell them? Or would they think that it was only some sort of trap? ARG, what should he do now?! Searching the real Rosette alone? That should actually be no problem with his sensitive nose. He should be able to follow her scent.

Hehe, that was easier said than done. Nowhere in this damn castle, he was able to find her scent. He began to worry about her. She couldn't be far away, could she? Directly tomorrow he would look for her in the area around the castle. If he didn't find her there he would send a messenger to Aion to tell him that the armistice was signed instead of going back himself. Then Chrno would have enough time to save her. And so was it.

Even five kilometres around the summer residence there was no trace of her. Chrno explained Vinsent that he had to go immediately. It was urgent. He also wrote a letter to Aion and sent it. Chrno would fly, but he was afraid of missing or later losing the trace of her scent. Thus he got on his horse and followed the way he had come from as he arrived here. Rosette had had to take the same way.

Somewhere he would find her scent. He came through a little village. Still no scent. But finally after 5 hours searching he found something. Chrno reined his horse on a little clearing where Rosette and her guards could have stopped. Next to it was a brook. Rosette's scent led him over the brook and far away from the clearing. It led into a total different direction. The purple head guessed that he was now riding to the east side of the country.

The demon cursed. At some parts the trace wasn't clear enough anymore. But that got better after the next day. Now there was only one way leading in the right direction. Here and there was a little village, but Chrno wasn't interested in them. He galloped by them, happy that his shadow-horse didn't need to rest. Soon the land seemed abandoned and he saw only one village on the third day. Shortly he slowed down his speed to orientate himself again. A young woman came along the path as well. He asked her where the path he went on was leading to. The woman, a blonde with long her and light blue eyes, watched him carefully.

"It doesn't take long anymore until you find the one you are looking for. Follow this path and it will bring you to this person. But be aware of the moorland. Many men got already lost there. Take the way around. Then you will find her and bring her back. But take care. This is not the only trouble you will get into. This is only the beginning." She said and starred at him with glassy eyes.

"Uh, thanks, I guess." Chrno looked puzzled down at her. "But where did you know from that I'm looking for someone?"

From the distance came a call over to them. "Mary!"

The woman, whose name was obviously Mary, looked for the one who called her. When she turned around again she smiled at the demon in human form. "Well then. I have to go. Goodbye, Chrno." With that she hurried off.

Hu? Where did she know his name from? "Strange girl…" He muttered to himself and started to gallop along the path again.

--

Everything was dark… Only darkness. A slit of light… The slit got wider as Rosette opened her eyes slowly. Where was she? What happened? Uh, she had a terrible headache. Carefully she sat up and looked around. She was in something that looked like a cave. Big stalactites were growing out of the ceiling. On the ground were smaller stalagmites. Some of them were breaking the light and here and there Rosette could see some little rainbows.

The place where the blonde sat was upholstered with hay and straw. Not really comfortable to be honest. Behind her the cave went on further into the mountain or what ever it was. Rosette wondered how long the cave really was. But it was too dark to see it. Only on one side (directly 7 meters in front of her) was the exit. Some dimmed daylight shone into it. Let's have a look outside, Rosette thought. She got up on her feet. Then she looked forwards, but all of a sudden a scary old female face was directly in front of her.

The old woman's breathe touched Rosette's skin and made her flesh creep. Shock and with wide eyes Rosette stared at her. Then she screamed and wanted to turn around to run away from the creepy woman, although that meant that she would have to run deeper into the cave. Unfortunately she didn't have a chance to do so. Another woman appeared directly in front of her again and blocked her way. Once more the girl screamed and turned to her left.

One after the other more woman appeared until Rosette was trapped in a circle built of nice creepy woman. They all wore dark blue robes with the hoods covering their hair. Each of these robes was padded on the inside. But not all had the same pad. Every pad was made of another sort of animal coat. Then the witches stroke up an old song in an ancient language Rosette didn't understand. Everything was spinning around in the blonde's head and she started to remember.

_Flash back:_

Soon they would finally arrive at the summer residence. This was the last stop. Rosette stretched her arms and yawned as she got out of the carriage. She had asked earlier if she was allowed to ride on one of the horses. That wasn't as boring as being in the carriage. But of cause she wasn't allowed to because it was "inappropriate for a young lady". Rosette rolled her eyes. Stupid etiquette rules.

At least now she was able to stretch her legs. She went to a close brook not far away. There she washed her face and arms. Her guards prepared the meal or haunted something that they even HAD something to eat. Soon it was time for Rosette to return again. One last time she checked her looking in the mirroring water surface. Suddenly a creepy woman's face appeared behind her in the reflection on the water. Terrified Rosette spun around. Nobody was there except for some squirrels in a tree.

The girl breathed heavily out. Her fantasy had played a trick on her. Just in that moment gnarled hands closed around her mouth. She couldn't breathe and fainted. The last thing she heard was a harsh female laughter.

_Flash back end_

So these old witches were her kidnapper. No, wait. Some of them didn't seem so old. Some of them were younger as well, but her hoods hid their whole face and Rosette could only see some parts of them.

"Wodan, our all-father, has chosen you, young girl. So come with us and begin your examination." The youngest of these strange women said.

"What? What examination?" Rosette shrieked. "And who's Wodan?!"

All her protesting didn't help. To witches had gripped her arms firmly and dragged her further into the cave. Also her struggling didn't have a use. The other seven cloaked persons held torches in their hands and lightened up the way. Further and further into the cave they went. The PLOP PLOP of the water drops falling from the ceiling was their permanent companion.

--

Meanwhile Aion sat behind his desk and drummed with his fingers on the hard wood of the table. What did Chrno take so long? He was now gone for more than two weeks. What happened to him damn? His brother could have sent a messenger at least. Just in this moment one of the employees knocked and entered his room. He bowed and gave a letter to Aion. Then he of cause bowed again and left.

"Aha, finally!" Aion shouted and broke the red wax seal at the back of the letter. In the letter he could read in Chrno's fine clear writing that everything was okay. They had the armistice. (AN: I can't see the word armistice anymore -.-") Chrno also told him that it would take a little bit longer until he would return. He had some important business of his to do before he returned. Aion grumbled lightly. The meeting with the other Lords was tomorrow and Aion didn't want to be alone there. They would tear him apart if they learned about his and Chrno's plans. Fortunately he had prepared everything well. The talk he would tell the other Lords was already finished in his mind. Hopefully it worked. Like Aion knew his luck, it wouldn't. He sighed heavily and scratched his neck. Deciding that he needed some fresh air Aion got up and exited his office.

--

Another scent was now mixed with Rosette's the further he came. Chrno sniffed the air again. He could smell Rosette and some other people. But the purple haired demon couldn't tell how many they were. The only thing that was for sure was that they were all females. The scents grew stronger. Soon the smell of old water was in the air as well and the ground got muddier. Chrno guessed that he was now close to the moor. Then the way branched in front of him. The girl earlier had told him to take the way around. Chrno didn't know why, but he guessed that it would be better to follow her advice. Nevertheless he stopped shortly and looked into the direction of the moor. Was it him or were there voices coming from? The devil shook his head and listened again. Hm, no it was only the sound of the wind brushing against some trees. He pushed his heels at the flank of the horse and it began to gallop along the safer way.

As soon as he was out of side a hand came out of the mud. An arm followed; then the head and the shoulders. Leaning the head on the hand the creature smiled evilly. "_A new victim_." It smirked and its smile faded into a smirk. All of a sudden the creature was gone again.

**AN:** hm so…. I don't really know what to say here… please review I guess…

I'm a fan of that old Nordic religions and Gods… pretty interesting. I thought I could make them part of the story. Wodan (or Wotan, it can be spelled both ways) is the main God I think…

*goes and does researches*

**Please review^^** It always makes me happy


	22. IV Chapter 22

**Chapter 22:**

The smell of mud and old rotted water coming from the moor nearby stuck in Chrno's nose the whole time. It was one of the few times that he wished that he didn't have such a sensitive nose. He hoped that he didn't have to stay long here.

Although he didn't take the direct way through the moor its smell was still there. In addition to that he felt a strange present all around the place. The horse didn't seem to like the way as well. It got nervous and began to move hectically. It had to be scarred of something. Cursing Chrno got off and gave it the sign to disappear. Rosette couldn't be far away anyways.

One minute later Chrno noticed a big mountain. Before, it had been covered by thick fog and clouds. There was also the entrance to a cave. In a half circle around the cave there were some torched rammed in the ground. Checking the situation for a moment, the purple head changed to his demon shape.

"Great. That looks really inviting." He muttered ironically and went closer to the torch circle. He was just about to grip one of those torches, but then he decided that the enemy would notice him with that earlier. Using no torch he had the moment of surprise on his side.

The inside of the cave was relatively big and with lost of stalactites and stalagmites. But it was also very dark in there. Fortunately his demon eyes were able to see even in deepest darkness.

Chrno sniffed the air and found that Rosette's scent lead further into the cave. Now there were the other person's scents as well. So the devil followed the path the others had taken as well.

Soon there was a staircase which led down. He hurried the stairs down taking two steps at the same time. The further he came into the cave he felt a certain pressure in the air which grew all the time.

Then at the end of the corridor he saw some light. He slowed down a little and glanced around the corner. There was nothing except for a big hall room with some statues. Chrno made sure that really nobody was in there and entered the room. As said there were some statues on both sides. Under each of them was written a name. Unfortunately they were written in foreign letters. One of the statues was the biggest and the most impressive. It showed a man riding on a horse with eight legs. Somewhere Chrno had seen this picture. It had been in one of the books he had read a long while ago. Unluckily he didn't remember anymore what the book had been about. Chrno turned away to look around again. Except for the way he had come from there was no other way out. No, wait. The statue of the man with the eight legged horse was so big that there was a narrow way between the horse front legs. Chrno folded his wings tightly to his back and went underneath the statue. There was a little path.

Slowly he began to wonder why there was nobody else except for him. That was highly suspicious. Suddenly the way stopped in front of a huge door. A gap of blue light was coming from underneath it. Because of the scene he was pretty sure that Rosette was behind it. On the other hand he also smelled blood and the stigmata. That wasn't a good sign.

Carefully Chrno opened it. The door creaked loudly. Rosette was standing in the middle of the room with her back to him. She was leaning over a well. The water in the well reflected the blue light coming from some blue fires which flew in the air. Relieved to see her Chrno called her name and ran to her.

She simply ignored him. Her face was covered by her loose hair and her dress was all dirty and ribbed at the bottom. Now that he stood directly next to her, Chrno heard her say something. He didn't understand it though. It was neither her language nor his language. It sounded like a spell.

"Fehu, uruz, thuriza, ansuz, raidho, kaunaz, gebo, wunjo, hagalaz, naughiz, jera isa eihwaz, perthro,elhaz, solwilo, tiwaz, berkano, ehwaz, mannaz, laguz, ingwaz, dagaz, odhala..." (AN: Explanation at the end of the chapter)

The spell was interrupted as it made BLUB as something fell into the water and coloured it lightly red. Then the spell started from new. Seeing that, Chrno called her name again and turned her around to face him.

--

Joshua and Azmaria knocked on the door to Rosette's room. Only seconds afterwards the blonde opened the door with a smile. She greeted her brother and her friend and let them in.

"How are you, Joshua? I heard you've had an illness attack in the morning. I'm sorry but I didn't have time to visit you." Rosette explained and offered them a seat.

Joshua pouted. "It wasn't really an illness attack. I just had a little headache." He said annoyed. "Don't worry I'm okay." He added more gently.

"Hey, Rosette. You haven't talked much since you came back again." Azmaria said. "Aren't you feeling well?" She asked worried.

"What? Oh, no. I'm feeling great." Rosette replied with a grin.

"Hey Rosette? Where's your beautiful necklace?" Azmaria asked. Puzzled the blonde looked at her.

"You know the one with the pocket watch. You're not wearing it anymore." The albino girl explained.

"Oh, that. I don't know, but I didn't like it anymore." She shrugged her shoulders.

"If you say so…" Joshua said and leaned back. Accidentally he knocked with his elbow on a little cupboard and a doll sitting on the edge of it fell down. With a loud noise the doll hit the ground and the beautiful porcelain face broke. Joshua gulped. That had always been his sister's favourite doll when they had been kids. It had also been one of the few things which had survived the fire in the palace. Rosette would kill him for destroying it.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Really, Rosette. I didn't want to! It was an accident!" He stuttered and closed his eyes awaiting one of Rosette's famous super-noogie-attacks. To his surprise it never came. Instead of that Rosette seemed calm. Or was that only the silence before the storm began?

"Hm, what a pity. It was such a nice doll." She said shortly and collected the broken pieces.

"Eh? You're not mad at me?" Joshua asked confused. Actually he had expected her to be mad at him. I mean, she had even been mad at him because he had wanted to only touch that stupid doll when they had been kids. Now he had broke the stupid toy and she didn't even cared?!

"No. It was an accident." The blonde girl replied.

"And you don't want to give me a noogie-attack?" Joshua asked carefully.

"Why should I do something like that? That's inappropriate for a noble girl." She said and told them that she would bring the broken pieces and the rest of the doll away. As soon as she out of the room, Joshua turned to Azmaria.

"You can tell me what you want, but this is NOT my sister." He pointed to the door.

"Yeah. She acts strange. Perhaps you should talk to your parents about it." Azmaria suggested.

"Okay. But at first I want to have a prove." Joshua nodded. "Do you have some cookies or something like that with you?" He asked her and pointed at the little basket Azmaria had with her. She nodded shortly and told him that she had baked some cookies and that she wanted to share them with the two siblings later.

The door was heard and Rosette came in again. "Back again." She smiled and sat down next to Azmaria.

Azmaria and Joshua were already eating some cookies. They offered Rosette to take some as well.

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry." Rosette shook her head. Her brother coughed because the cookie he had been eating had gone down the wrong way.

"Can you please repeat that?"

"I said I'm not hungry." The girl repeated again and looked confused at the two teenagers starring at her. A little silence followed.

"Who are you?" Joshua whispered.

"What?" Rosette narrowed her blue eyes. "I am the Princess! Your sister!" She protested.

"And why are you acting so strange?" He continued asking her. Azmaria looked confused from one to the other.

"I act like I always acted." She said.

"No, you don't. My sister always talked a lot, you don't. My sister was always full of life, you are too calm. My sister loved the pocket watch and now you tell me that you don't like it anymore. And my sister was always eating anything, you don't even want to have a cookie." Joshua explained. "It's not possible that you have changed so much within the last month. No, that's not possible. I do not recognize you anymore. So tell me who you are." His voice changed to a growl.

Rosette looked at him estimating. "You are aware of everything, aren't you?" She let out a short laugh. "And I thought that disguise was the best. I mean, look! Everybody is thinking I am the real princess!" She began to smirk. "And I would really like it to stay like this." Her smirk got wider. "Unfortunately you are an obstacle." She grinned and said something in another language.

Joshua and Azmaria fainted and fell on the ground. Rosette went to the big window and opened it. Someone entered the room through the window. He picked Joshua and Azmaria up and disappeared with them. The false Rosette ripped some parts of her dress and messed up her hair. She looked in the mirror and then she put on a scarred face. She pushed some tears to her eyes and ran out of the room. "Help me! They kidnapped them! The demons kidnapped my brother and Azmaria! Please help!"

--

Nervous Aion moved from one side to the other side in his chair. The other Lords were arguing about how many soldier they would send and to which place they would send them. Aion hadn't told them yet. Although he had made a plan how to tell them, he wasn't sure anymore how to start. But now was his only chance. He cleared his throat and attracted the others attention with that. Silently they starred at him.

"Uhm…" Aion began. "I know a war will begin soon if we continue like that. But I ask you: Is that really necessary?"

"Of cause it is." DeFaux growled. "The humans stole our land and it's our right to take it back." The others agreed. That would be more difficult for Aion than expected.

"Well, I know the history of our kingdom very well. And I know also that the humans robbed our land several hundred or even thousands of years ago." Aion said and some others nodded. "In the following centuries we lived on this side of the mountains. And we still live here. There has never been a big problem between humans and demons since then. Of cause only if everyone stayed on the right side of the mountains. Plus that human's offence was so long ago. It already came under the statute of limitation. The whole situation between the two kingdoms calmed down and now you want to destroy the peace again? Why? It would only bring disadvantages for both sides. Sure we have strong soldier, but nevertheless we would lose millions of them in a war. Do you really want to send them to death?" Aion finished his part. In the other's faces he could see all sorts of feelings. He gulped and waited for an answer. DeFaux was the one to speak first.

"You are still young; actually you are too young to be a Lord. So it's understandable that you are scarred that you could die." The others agreed

"What? No, that's not my problem." Aion protested. "But look. Chrno and I just got the Lord title. We are now responsible for our county and we don't want to ruin it. Our people are fine with the situation now. They are healthy. The harvest was better than all the years ago. Asking around we found out that most of the people don't want a war. They are happy with that what they have now." Aion took a deep breathe.

"Are you now blaming the farmers and citizens?" Another man asked.

"No. Of cause not. I'm just saying that we as Lords have to represent our county." The white haired demon explained.

"Does that mean that you don't support us in the war?" The Western Lady said angrily. Aion nodded and all others began to talk at the same time.

"You don't have the right to decide that by your own!" One of the high generals shouted. "Chrno has to agree to that as well! Where is he?!" The others were quiet again and looked at Aion. One of them repeated the question where Chrno was.

"At the moment he's visiting King Vinsent to do an armistice." Aion said with a low voice.

**AN:**So that was chapter 22. Please review, okay? So and to these strange words Rosette is saying at the beginning. The words are actually Germanic runes used in the 5th century I think. All of these words have special meanings. If you want to know the meanings you can look in Wikipedia I think… Anyways I'm just reading the book "Daughters of the Nibelungs" and in this book they use these runes all the time. Oh yeah, and this statue of the horse with eight legs and the man should be a statue of Wodan/Odin (a Germanic god) with his hell horse Sleipnir.


	23. IV Chapter 23

**Chapter 23:**

Shocked Chrno backed away. Unable to move he stared at her. What had happened to her? He had found Rosette deep in the cave. She had been leaning over the well and had muttered these strange words. Something had fallen into the water and then he had turned her around to face him. Now he was looking into her pale face. She looked tired; the dark marks under her eyes told him that she hadn't slept much. The beautiful blue eyes were now glassy and empty.

That was not the worst though. A third stigmata had appeared on her forehead. It was bleeding and the blood ran down her cheek. The once blond hair strands over her forehead were coloured red.

She looked at him as if she wanted to say something, but then she turned around again and leaned over the well. With a BLUB a drop of blood fell into the water and she started to say the spell once more.

What the hell had happened to her? What did they do to her? Chrno wondered if he should just take her and drag her away.

Again there was a BLUB as she finished her spell. Chrno could see that she was shaking at her whole body. "Help me……" It was nothing more than a whisper underneath her breathes. Realizing what she had said Chrno gripped her wrist, but he pulled back again as the blood coming from the stigmata at the wrist burned him. Rosette winced as well and took one step back. She blinked with her eyes, they became normal again and she looked scarred around.

A strange growling voice echoed through the room. Instinctively the blonde clutched at Chrno's sleeve.

"_Who dares it to interrupt the ceremony? Who dares it to touch the chosen one?_" The same voice snarled. At the same moment the flames of the blue fires which flew in the air got a lighter blue and they grew bigger. Out of the blue nine cloaked persons appeared. They were all female and they all wore the same dark blue cloaks. The hoods covered their heads and only little part of the face was seen. The women were now standing in a circle around them. Instinctively Chrno gripped the handle of his sword.

--

Joshua woke up again. Shocked he looked around. It was dark here. Only a few candles lit the place up. He could see that he was in some kind of a dungeon. Next to him in another dungeon he could see Azmaria. She was still lying on the ground and sleeping. Her long white hair was all messy and tangled.

Except for Azmaria there were some other people in the dungeon as well. They were all still kids or teenagers. Some of them were awake the others asleep. Joshua heard a sound from the right as Azmaria got up. Sleepy she rubbed her eyes and looked around. Then she realized where she was and screamed.

"Where are we?!" The albino girl squeaked.

"In a dungeon, I guess." Joshua said and moved closer to the iron bars which separate his and Azmaria's dungeon.

"Sure. But I mean where is this dungeon?! I hope not far away from home!" Azmaria shrieked and clutches her knees.

"This dungeon is at a place you don't know." One of the other teenagers said with a strong dialect. "It's far away from everything you know." He explained. The boy was about 16 years old and had dark brown curly hair.

"Where do you know that from?" Joshua asked curious.

"Here are people from all over the kingdoms." The brown haired guy told them. "We are all special people with special powers, called apostles. Normally these people are spread all over the world, but someone collected us here." He cleared his throat. "For example the girl in the first dungeon comes from far away in the north of the human kingdom. The older girl next to her comes from the west and the next guy comes from the east. I come from a kingdom which lies in the south east of the human kingdom across the sea. The kingdom is called Krefya. The little five years old girl with the short hair between your and my dungeon even comes from the demonic kingdom."

Joshua and Azmaria gasped. They had never expected the little girl to be a demon.

"And where do you come from?" The guy asked again.

"We're from the middle of the human kingdom." Azmaria told him. "What's your name?" She added.

"Oh, I'm Jack. The others are called Lydia, Sarah, Nathan and the demon girl is called Sheda. How about you?" Jack said and smiled lightly.

"My name is Joshua and this is Azmaria." Joshua told him.

"Fine then, Joshua and Azmaria. Welcome."

"What happens with us here?" Azmaria continued asking.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea. As far as I'm informed they keep us here until they have collected all apostles. Now only one is missing. Then they need us for some sort of ceremony. I'm not really looking forwards to that. So if you have a genial plan to escape I'll be very happy."

--

"Who are you?!" Chrno and Rosette hissed in unison and Chrno drew his sword.

"Don't even try to fight us, young demon. It's useless to fight against Wodan's daughters, the valkyries." The oldest woman said and her big wooden necklace clattered.

"Valkyries?" Rosette asked. She had never heard about that before.

"We are Wodan's daughters, priests and warriors. The god Wodan speaks through us and we obey his will." Another younger woman said.

"He has chosen you to give us your powers. The powers your God gave you to destroy Wodan! You wear his marks. With every drop of your blood Wodan gets stronger again!" The youngest woman said and pointed with her petite finger on Rosette.

"But you interrupted the ceremony." The next said and turned to Chrno.

"Therefore you will suffer." A woman on the other side announced.

"Because no man is allowed to tough a valkyrie." Again it was another one who had spoken.

"You'll die. But you, girl, will join us. I saw it in a vision. You will bring Ragnarök. You will bring salvation for the world." They all spoke in chorus. Their voices had something hypnotizing. Then they repeated the same spell Rosette had said at the well.

"These are no real valkyries." Chrno whispered to Rosette. "I know valkyries. From time to time they passed by my home town. But none of them threatened anybody and none of them wanted Ragnarök to happen." Rosette nodded even through she didn't understand anything. She still didn't know who Wodan or the valkyries were. And what was this Ragnarök thing now? She didn't have time to ask these questions. Chrno had attacked the cloaked woman who blocked the way which led outside. She screeched shrilly and the others joined her screeching.

Covering his ears in pain Chrno let the sword drop down. With a clash it hit the ground. The valkyries began to move around them in a circle. They were so fast that they were only seen as a dark blue wall around them. Nevertheless they didn't stop screaming. The screeching got shriller. Chrno sunk to his knees and pressed his hands tighter on his ears. Rosette covered her ears as well.

What should she do now? They were trapped and Chrno seemed out of action. So the blonde picked up the white sword. It was heavy in her hands. She aimed shortly and knocked the sword down to one of the enemies. To her surprise she hit one at her shoulder. The injured valkyrie stopped screeching and fell on the ground. She sat up again and cursed. Then she growled and bared her sharp fangs. The other valkyries stopped as well and bared their fangs.

"Shape shifter!" Chrno hissed and attacked the valkyrie on the ground with his claws. Behind him Rosette screamed as two of the remaining eight valkyries lifted her up in the air. Her feet were now nearly one meter over the ground. The blonde screamed and struggled to get free. One of the valkyries who held Rosette laughed.

"Kill him! He knows it!" The oldest screamed.

"What the hell is a shape shifter?!" Rosette yelled still hanging in the air. Just in this moment Chrno slew a second one of them. One of her companions screamed and her shape began to change, she wasn't a shape shifter for nothing.

The blue cloak got darker until it was black. Then the cloak expended and together with the arms it transformed into two black feathered wings. The lower part of the body transformed into the body of a gigantic bird. The upper part of the body remained as the body of a woman, an ugly woman to be honest. The hood of the cloak transformed into long black hair. The fingernails became claws and the fangs grew longer.

"A harpy!" Chrno yelled in surprise and brought some distance between them. So this was their real from. This was the shape shifter's real body. The other seven women changed into harpies as well.

Shocked Rosette looked up to see that the two harpies held her with their bird claws. The claws were sharp and Rosette didn't dare to struggle anymore. The other five harpies continued attacking Chrno. Being busy with these five, he didn't realise Rosette who was dragged away. As he noticed it after a while he shot an energy ball at one of Rosette's carriers. He hit her and broke a wing. She let go of Rosette and fell down. The other carrier had now a problem with Rosette's weight and let her drop. The blonde hit the ground hard and rolled to her left where she got on her feet again. Shaking she backed away from the harpy lying on the ground. The harpy twitched and tried to hit her with on of her claws.

Then the second harpy tried to hit Rosette's head. The girl shrieked and dodged away. Just in time Chrno shot a second energy ball at the harpy who attacked Rosette. He hit the creature directly on the head and she collapsed. To the same time he killed another one with the sharp bone tail.

The last four harpies screeched and flew in a little distance around him and Rosette. One came to close to Rosette. Chrno was too busy to help her. She remembered how her blood from the stigmata had burned him. Perhaps she could burn the harpy too? The harpy came closer and bared her fangs. The monster also stretched her claws to hit Rosette. Rosette put some blood on her hands. Then she jumped forwards and scratched with her hands over the harpy's face. The leather like skin under her fingernails sizzled and steamed. White smoke was coming out of the wounds.

The harpy screamed loudly and rolled on the floor. Rosette jumped away again and looked shocked at her. At least her plan had worked. As the three remaining monsters saw that, they let go of both, Chrno and Rosette. They yelled something in a foreign language. Then they suddenly vanished in the shadows. The whole room went silent. The only thing which was heard was Rosette's and Chrno's breathing.

All of a sudden a loud roar was hears. Both jumped around and look at the well. The roar didn't come out of the water, did it? It did. The water began to bubble. It splashed in the air and suddenly there was an earthquake. Rosette screamed and Chrno gripped her hand to lead her upstairs, through the room with the statues and finally outside. It dawned already and the sun was already at the horizon. Rosette had to stop shortly to take a little break. In this moment the mountain in front of them cracked and more harpies came through the gaps in the rocks.

Chrno told Rosette to run away while he would take care of the harpies. The blonde wanted to protest but Chrno pushed her away. So she ran along the way. Suddenly there was a second earthquake and destroyed the way in front of her. Immediately Rosette turned around and took the only remaining way… through the moorland.

Meanwhile Chrno waited until Rosette was far away enough and until the harpies were close enough. He chose to use his most powerful attack. Little lightnings appeared between his ivory horns. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Within seconds all harpies were frozen in time. Chrno opened his eyes and scanned the area for more enemies. There wasn't anyone.

He turned around and spread his wings. The path was destroyed and he followed Rosette into the moor. He found her fighting her way through the knee deep mud. Relieved she saw him coming and asked him if everything was alright while he landed next to her. Directly he sunk in the mud up to his knees as well. Crap. The mud was too deep and it wasn't possible for him to get airborne from this place anymore because the mud kept him down. He sighed. Great. Now they had to go through the moor by feet.

**AN:** if you want to learn more about harpies and valkyries look in Wikipedia. As far as I know valkyries are Wodan's priests and warriors. They're always females. And harpies are a mixture between woman and bird. They come from the Greek mythology. Anyways I hope that chapter wasn't too confusing… To me it was confusing… LOL

Finally some action, mwahahaha

Gosh, I have so much to do with school, tests, car driving lesson, etc… Sorry, I was late. But **Don't forget to review plz**


	24. IV Chapter 24

**Chapter 24:**

Bound on the ground Chrno and Rosette made their way through the moor. It was already dark now and it got colder. It was already autumn after all. At least the moon and the stars spent some light.

Rosette shivered. The cloth her dress was made of wasn't very thick. It didn't keep her warm enough. In addition to that came that the water and the mud was fricking cold as well. She really looked forward coming outta here. Chrno who was right next to her had the same problems. He was now again in his human form. The wings and so on would only be disturbing.

"Hey, Chrno?" Rosette asked him. "What were these creatures? You seem to know something."

He glanced over to her but concentrated on his away afterwards again. "At first these valkyries. They are mostly human and they pray to Wodan, their main god. Another name for him Odin. He rides on his eight legged horse Sleipnir. Anyways. These valkyries are female priests who pray to him. Originally they came from the land in the south east next to the human kingdom. Unfortunately I forgot the name of the country, but it's across the sea. Well, the valkyries have different functions. On one hand they take care of people who need help or they are healer and doctors. On the other hand they consider themselves as Wodan's daughters and his warriors. It isn't a rarity to see these women being involved in a war. Mostly valkyries travel around the whole country. I only met one of them one single time as she passed by my home. Actually they are nice and friendly persons, not like these monsters here." Chrno answered her after a short break.

"Aha. And what's this Ragnarök they were talking about?" Rosette wanted to know more.

"Ragnarök, Armageddon, Apocalypse, whatever you want. It all means the same: The end of the world. Therefore these shape shifters over there couldn't be real valkyries. A real one would never want Ragnarök to happen, but these ones here wanted it." Chrno continued explaining patiently.

"You said 'shape shifter'. And what is this?"

"As the name says, they can change their shapes. They can look like they want or like whoever they want. But they always have one original shape. In this case they were harpies, a mixture between woman and bird. Both, shape shifters and harpies, aren't human or demonic. They are something in-between because both sides expelled them." He said.

"Ah, okay…" Rosette trailed off. It got again colder and she clutched her shoulders.

"Was that all you wanted to know?" Chrno asked her and helped her over a big tree trunk which lay in the moor.

"Yeah, I guess… No wait. I've one final question." The blonde replied. "How did you find me?"

Chrno face expression became serious and he bit his lip. "I visited your father for an armistice. But –"

"Oh really? How was it?" Rosette cut him off. "Is he searching for me? He has to be worried since I disappeared."

"To be honest, Rozetto. For him you didn't disappear." Chrno answered her and earned a shocked look of her. "A shape shifter has taken in your place. I couldn't do something against it and I realized it too late. Afterwards I was directly on my way to bring you back. And I guess I just had the right timing." He chuckled lightly.

"Thank you…" Rosette stopped and clutched her shoulders tighter. Why was the weather so damn cold? "I don't know what I would have done without you. I wasn't able to defend myself against these uh whatever they're called. They brought me to the well. I tried to struggle free, but when I looked into the well I was almost glued with on it with my eyes… As soon as I looked into it I wasn't able to move anymore. A big eye was looking at me through the water… It was just as if I was looking through the eye in the universe. I can' tell what exactly it was, but it made me say these strange words… this spell. As if that wasn't the worst the stigmata at my writs began to bleed again and the one on my forehead appeared. I'm sorry that I burned you with my blood…"

"Don't worry that's already healed." He smiled at her. "But as soon as we're out of the moor we have to take care of your wounds. I don't want them to become inflamed."

--

Two red eyes watched the demon and the human wading through the thick mud. The girl joined the demon unexpectedly. Somehow they had to get rid of her or else their new victim would escape. The head with the read eyes dived into the mud again. On another place it came out again. This time the whole head came out of it as well. The shoulders followed and the rest of the female body. She didn't sink into the mud. She walked on it until she reached a little hill. On that hill her companions were already waiting for her. She greeted them with her beautiful voice half singing half speaking. She told them what she had seen and sat down on the hill as well. Then the one on the top of the mountain began to play her harp. The others joined with their singing soprano voice.

--

Joshua and Azmaria sat in the dungeons and talked a little bit with the others. They had tried to get out, but that had been useless. So they did the only thing which remained: talking with the others.

The apostle as they called themselves were quite nice, even the demon kid. Although she didn't understand anything of what the others were saying she giggled the whole time and jumped around in her cell. Sometimes she said or did something funny and the others had to laugh. Seeing that the others laughed she grinned at them and continued. Then suddenly she changed into her demon form. A cat tail came out of her back and some cat ears came out of her head. The two little horns on each side of her head weren't missing. Now she was spinning around, trying to catch her own tail. Suddenly she stumbled, fell on her little botoom and began to cry. Trying to cheer her up Jack pulled faces in the neighbour cell. Sheda came to the iron bars and put her little arms through them. There she gripped Jack's cheeks and pulled on them.

Suddenly she was interrupted as someone opened the big iron door which led out of the dungeon. Everyone stared at the person who was coming in. It was a middle aged man with long blonde hair. His hair was in a low ponytail and he wore a white robe. His ears were long and pointed.

"Is he a demon?" Azmaria whispered to Joshua. Jack who heard the question answered it for Joshua. "No, these are no devils. They're shape shifters and they are the ones who keep us here."

"You know quite a lot." Joshua noticed.

"I'm the one they caught first. It's me who is here for the longest time. I came here last year. Of cause I know a lot." The brown haired boy said sadly.

Suddenly the shape shifter yelled something at him and he was quiet again. More shape shifters followed and they brought all apostles into a big hall. There they were chained on some chairs. They put some cables at them as well. (AN: You know, something like Azmaria had in the zeppelin) Suddenly wings grew at the apostles' back. Scared Azmaria looked to Joshua. Then everybody began to scream and blue green light appeared. The astral light. Afterwards the kids fainted and they were brought back into their dungeons.

--

Far away on the east coast of the human kingdom Sathella hurried to her older sister. "Did you just feel that?" She asked Florette. The other one nodded. "They jewels react to something. They feel a strong energy. It comes from the other side of the ocean…" She narrowed her eyes and scanned the wide blue sea.

--

Chrno and Rosette stopped. Something had changed in their surroundings. Thick fog was coming. Soon they couldn't see anything, but white stuff in front of them. Suddenly there was a sound. Rosette had to cover her ear because the sound transformed into a shrieking noise which hurt in the ears. Now it was more like a shrill whistle.

To Chrno is sounded totally different. His ears heard the beautiful melodic voices accompanied with a harp. He wondered why Rosette covered her ears. The song was so beautiful! And he just wanted to ask her, but suddenly she had vanished in the fog.

The purple head turned around a few times and called her name. Meanwhile the song got louder and more intensive. Like it was calling him. He shook his head. No that couldn't be. Then it got louder for a second time. No matter how much Chrno fought against it, the song slowly hypnotized him. His eyes went empty and he followed the beautiful sound.

Rosette didn't know how long she had stayed here. The louder the noise got, the more pain was in her ears. She wanted to ask Chrno what that noise was, but shocked she recognized that he was gone behind the fog. Fortunately the fog thinned down until it was gone. The noise turned down as well. Then it was gone as well. Relieved Rosette put her hands down. Everything was dark and there was no trace of Chrno. She called his name a few times, but he didn't answer.

Panicked she shouted his name louder again. Then the blonde found some traces in the mud. Being sure that that had to be the way Chrno had taken, Rosette followed the trace. The mud was deep here. It reached now over her knees. Carefully the girl took some steps forward. Suddenly there was a loud BLUMB as she slipped further into the moor. Now the mud reached to her hips.

Annoyed she cursed and tried to go on. That on the other hand caused problems. Walking in this thick mud wasn't easy and Rosette had to try hard to take the steps. How had Chrno been able to go through that so fast? Or was she just too slow? Exhausted she leaned on an old rotted tree trunk. Heavily breathing she looked around.

As said the fog was gone by now and she could look over the whole place. Only at one spot the fog remained. Rosette thought that she heard some voices coming from this direction and pushed herself through the mud again.

Out of the blue a hand gripped her arm tightly. Rosette shrieked and wanted to spin around, but the hand didn't let her. Plus the hand was coming directly out of the mud. There was a bubble next to it in the mud and a tall thin woman came out of it. Her long wet hair was covering her body. Her skin had a strange blue-green colour and her eyes were sparkling orange. The creature bared her fangs and some sharp but neglected teeth were shown. "_You stay here, woman._" She hissed and tightened her grip on Rosette's arm.

"NO! Let me go!" Rosette shrieked and pulled on her arm. Just in that moment another one gripped her other arm. The second creature was female as well. She looked much like the first one, but she was skinnier. Rosette gulped. It seemed that they hadn't eaten in a long time and she didn't really want to become their meal for tonight.

"_Quiet, woman!"_ The second one hissed at the blonde. "_Don't interrupt our meal or we will kill you as well._"

"Forget it!" Rosette tried to struggle free again. But at first their grips around her arms were too tight and second she wouldn't be able to run away in this mud anyways.

"_Na, na. Don't be so stubborn. Your purple haired friend was much easier to handle with."_

"What? Where's Chrno?! What did you do to him?!" The blonde began to yell.

"_What do you think we did? Nothing tastes better than a young man."_ The left blue-green skinned woman smirked.

"No!" Rosette yelled again and lifter her hand in an abrupt movement. Her two guards didn't expect that and she could hit both of them at their chests. She didn't hit them hard though, but it was enough to burn them with the blood coming from the stigmata. White dust came out of the wounds. Immediately they let go of the girl and disappeared in the mud again.

Heavily breathing Rosette looked around. She found the place again which was covered with fog. It wasn't so far away anymore. As fast as possible she got there. She figured out that behind the fog was a big rock. Voices were coming from the other side. Therefore she waded around the rock.

--

The voices were so beautiful. They were calling him. Asking him to help them… to join them. The song became louder the further Chrno went. It was like he was chained to the melody. Moreover it hypnotised him. At first he had fought against that hypnosis, but then he had found out that this hypnosis was good. It gave him a feeling of completeness, happiness, indifference and peace.

He nearly lost consciousness and it was like he was sleep walking. He arrived at a rock. There was nobody but the voices were coming from here. He was sure. Suddenly a beautiful young woman with long blonde locks came out of the mud in front of him. More other attractive woman appeared. It was them who sang the song.

"_A siren from the deep came to me_

_Sang my name my longing._

_First of them true loved_

_Still I write my songs about that dream of mine_

_Worth everything I may ever be_"

--

**AN:**Well… yeah. That was chapter 24. The last lines are copied from Ghost Love Score by Nightwish.

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW or I'll get pissed…**


	25. IV Chapter 25

**AN: I AM PISSED BECAUSE I DON'T GET ENOUGH REVIEWS ANYMORE**

**Chapter 25:**

It seemed like an eternity until Rosette had finally managed to arrive at her destination. But she absolutely didn't like what she saw.

Chrno was lying on his back on the rock. He was also chained on the rock with a thick rope. His eyes were closed. Either he was asleep or already dead. The girl hoped that it wasn't the second one. More of these female creatures were around him. Some of them sat on the rock itself or directly next to it. They were already whetting their sharp claws.

Only one of these creatures looked different. She had long blonde locks. Suddenly she began to change. The curly locks began to straighten until they were twice as long as they had been before. Then they darkened and seemed wet. Now her hair looked like the hair of all others. The only difference was now her skin which had a healthy colour.

Shocked Rosette watched as she took of her cream coloured skin like it was clothing. As she stripped the rest of her skin off, she looked exactly like the others. She also had this blue-green skin now.

Fuming Rosette ground her teeth. That was really a mean trick. Seducing men who were passing by with a wrong looking and then eating them. That was really the lowest level...

Fortunately they hadn't noticed Rosette now. But unfortunately Rosette didn't know what to do now. She didn't have any weapons and fighting alone against the creature would kill her.

"_Intruder!"_ The one on the top of the rock shrieked suddenly. The blonde winced under the shrill tone of her voice. Snarling the others turned their head to Rosette as well.

"Oh, shit…" All of a sudden three creatures jumped on Rosette from behind and pushed her head under the surface of the waist deep water-mud mixture. Panicked Rosette tried to get out again. She needed air to breathe immediately!

They didn't let her. So she stopped struggling because she only needed more oxygen to do so. The pressure on her was gone now. Obviously they thought she was dead. Good for her. Carefully she lifted her head. And yes. Nobody was next to her anymore. She sneaked to the rock and used a big stick she had just found in the moor to hit the head of the female monster in front of her. Unconscious she collapsed in front of the girl. The other looked angered to her and prepared to jump to her and to tear her apart.

Terrified Rosette took one step back and screamed as they growled at her. Instinctively she called Chrno's name several times. In the last time he had always been there to protect her. It was a terrible feeling to know that he couldn't help her this time.

The first creature suddenly jumped to her. Then there was a loud BANG as she jumped against an invisible wall. Stunned Rosette watched a second one bounce at it. Okay… that was strange… More strange was that the pocket watch around her neck had begun to glow. But that didn't matter now. The only thing which matter was that this invisible barrier protected her and that she had to wake Chrno up.

She grinned at a third one who bounced at the barrier and stuck her tongue out to her. Afterwards the blonde girl hurried and climbed on the rock. She quickly checked if he was still alive. To her relief he was. Quickly she opened the ropes around his arms and ankles. Amused she watched the enemies jumping against the barrier again, only to fall down again. But now Rosette had to concentrate on another problem. How to wake him up now? She called him a few times and shook his shoulders. Hm… that didn't work. She had to find another way.

Rosette remembered the stories she had always read to Joshua when they had been kids. In these stories they always kissed their love to wake her or him up. Just like in the sleeping beauty fairytale. So should she perhaps…?

**SLAP** But hey, a slap in the face seemed to work to! Now he was awake again. (AN: I am mean… XD)

--

_Short __Flash Back_:

The one with the blonde locks was holding her hand towards him. Internal Chrno became suspicious. Nothing was right here. He wanted to fight against it. But he lost control over his body as the other beauties began to sing louder. They tied him with a rope on the rock. He wanted to beat them away. But again his body didn't want to obey him. Then he suddenly fell into unconsciousness. He was brought back to consciousness as he heard her scream.

Rosette screamed for him. He wanted to help her, but he wasn't able to move one single muscle he couldn't open his eyes as well.

Out of the blue it was like his power went out of him. He could feel his astral floating out of him and into another object. Through that object he felt an heartbeat and Rosette's voice seemed intensely loud when she called him a second time. Suddenly there was a ticking noise in his head to. Perhaps his power ran into the pocket watch.

Having a new plan he led more of his energy in the pocket watch and created a barrier around it and Rosette who was wearing it. Some minutes passes by. The purple head heard some steps next to his head. He felt a warm hand feeling the pulse at his throat. Then he was freed from the ropes. He heard her calling his name and he wanted to answer. Nevertheless it was not possible for him. Then there was a little silence. (_Flashback end)_

**SLAP** Something hit his cheek very hard. Finally he had the control over his muscles again and immediately he sat straight up. Unfortunately he bonged his head on Rosette's while doing so. The blonde scolded something and rubbed her head.

Chrno mumbled a quick apologize and got on his feet. Shocked he saw that the beauties, who chained him on the rock, were now ugly monster. He pulled a face and froze their time.

"You have a really hard slap, you know that?" Chrno complained, turned around to Rosette again and rubbed the still red cheek.

"Would you have preferred me _kissing_ you awake?" Rosette replied pissed off and made him blush.

"Uh…"

**SLAP**

"Pervert." The blonde grumbled and went away. Chrno stayed back now rubbing both cheeks.

After about 20 meters she stopped and looked over shoulder. "Come on! I want to get outta here before I've frozen my butt off!" She waited until he had joined her again and went on. They walked a few minutes. Nobody said something. Chrno felt uncomfortable in this silence. He felt the urge to say something, but he didn't know what.

Rosette glanced shortly over to him. "And?"

"And what?" Chrno asked her puzzled.

"Nya come on! You know what I mean." She said annoyed. "Did you at least have some fun?"

"Please what?!"

"Come on. Some beauties inviting you. Nobody's around.."

"Arg, do you really think so badly of me?" Chrno protested.

Rosette lifted an eyebrow. "Who knows…"

"Now really! I didn't do anything!" He tried to convince her. "And there wasn't enough time anyways…"

"Sure…"

"I really didn't do anything! Plus I was under hypnosis!" He stopped and called after her.

"Whatever…"

"Rozetto!" He called and hurried next to her again.

Suddenly Rosette began to giggle. "Okay, okay. Calm down. I'm just kidding around!"

"Uh, what?"

"I just wanted to see your reaction and it was really funny. Of cause I know that you're not that kind of guy. But I was surprised that you were taken in by that cheap trick at all." The blonde shrugged her shoulder and looked forwards again.

"Hey, I may be a demon, but I'm a man as well. And no man is resistant to the song of a siren…" He tried to defend himself.

"And again a creature I don't know." The girl complained. "At first the valkyries, then the harpies, the shape shifters and now sirens! Is there something I missed?" She grumbled. "And all that on only one day… So, oh walking lexicon, tell me what a siren is." She teased him and laughed.

Chrno chuckled as well and started. "A siren is always a female. Mostly they live in moorlands, lakes or in the coast area. As you see they always need water. Nobody knows exactly what they are, but there are rumours which say that they are maids who drowned. Usually they attract men with their singing. –"

"What we have just seen." Rosette commented.

"Uhm, yeah. And afterwards they eat their victims. The victim is always male. Women are kind of dangerous for them. But I don't really know why…" Chrno finished. "Hey, look! There's the forest!" He cheered and together with the blonde he hurried out of the moor. Tired Rosette walked over to a big stone – walking could be so much easier if you weren't in waist deep mud. Then she sat down on the big stone. Chrno sat down next to her on the ground.

"And now?" Rosette asked and yawned.

"Waiting until my wings are dry and then I'll fly us at your palace."

"Do you mind me taking a nap until then?" Rosette asked. Chrno shook his head and so she lay down on a moss bed.

--

"Help! Help! The demons kidnapped Prince Joshua and Azmaria!" The wrong Rosette screamed and ran through the royal summer residence. Within minutes there was a huge chaos. The shape shifter smirked evilly. Quickly she put a serious and feared expression on her face. Her 'father', the king, was coming now. To make it look real she began to cry something ununderstandable and handed him a letter which she had hidden in her sleeve before. On the letter there were three texts, each one in another language. The first one was in the language of the humans, the second one was Latin for the demons and the last one was written in runes.

Worried Vinsent took the letter from his 'daughter'. It said that the demons let the war begin. And if they wanted Joshua and Azmaria back, they had to fight. Vinsent grumbled something and went in his office after he told his 'daughter' that everything would be okay and that they would free the others. 'Rosette' bowed and went to her mother to tell her the story.

Some days later in the evening she sat alone in her room and looked out of the window. Everything went according to plan. That was great! Actually the leader of the shape shifter clan had told her to observe the royal family. Then she had found out that the princess who was on her way home and the prince and one of her friends were apostles. Immediately she had told that to her boss who was collecting the apostles for something she didn't know much about.

He had rewarded her for this information. Soon she had found out that one of the apostles, the princess, seemed to have stigmata. Stigmata were a really powerful sign. They meant that this girl could be dangerous for them but it also meant that she was the special chosen one. The shape shifter had told that to her boss as well. Now she had had a new task to do. Successfully she took in the place of the Princess while the other kidnapped her.

Now she had had influence of the king and she really liked that. According to plan the other two apostles had been caught and they had been brought directly to the shape shifters' headquarter which was placed somewhere in the country across the sea.

On the other hand the stigmata girl had to be prepared first. She would follow them later. Then the clan could use the apostles for whatever they wanted to do. To the same time there was a great opportunity to set the humans on the demons and the way around. Then humans and demons would kill each other and after they were dead the land would be owned by shape shifter again. Until everything had worked like it was supposed to. The war would begin soon. 'Rosette' smirked.

Suddenly she jumped in her seat as the door swung open. A servant stood in the doorway. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, Princess. But you father wants to talk to you immediately." He bowed deeply and led her outside. Annoyed she followed. What could he want from her now and especially to that late time? Anyways she was just about to cross the court as suddenly a bunch of soldiers surrounded her. Two of them gripped her at her arms.

"What are you doing?!" the blonde screamed.

"Tie her on the pyre." Vinsent said coldly as he entered the court through the big door on the left.

"What?" The girl between the soldiers screamed. "I am your daughter! You can't tie me on the pyre! I am the princess!!!"

"Yeah, you wish." Two other persons came out of the door. The shape shifter narrowed her eyes. It would have been better if she had killed that young demon as she had had the opportunity to do so. Obviously he had brought the right Princess back. The demon and the Princess were now standing in some distance next to the king. Both had their arms crossed and glared at her.

The shape shifter growled again. Something hit her head from behind. As she woke up again she was tied on the pyre. Nearly all people who lived here had come. The king, queen and princess were standing in the first line. The demon kept himself a little bit away from the crowd. He watched her with careful eyes.

"Tell me where my brother is!" Rosette yelled at her.

"Pah, as if I'm going to tell you that!" The wrong Rosette snarled.

"Tell her." A soldier said sternly and aimed his sword on her.

"No, thank you. I prefer to die." The shape shifter closed her eyes tightly and suddenly there was a huge flame which covered the whole pyre. She screamed. Not much time later she was dead and the pyre burned to ash.

"Great. And how shall we find Joshua now?" Rosette lamented.

"She gave us a letter with three texts. Two are in a foreign language. Perhaps we can find some information there!" Vinsent suggested in order to keep the hope alive.

"Can I have a look at this letter too? Perhaps I can help you." Chrno asked.

**AN: **uhm… yes, that was chapter 25… The last part with the shape shifters' plan is confusing I guess… I hope you know what I mean… it will be explained later…

**LEAVE A REVIEW PLZ**


	26. V Chapter 26

**AN: PLZ REVIEW**

_Part V:_

**Chapter 26:**

Rosette and Chrno had made it. Finally they were back at the summer residence. Directly after they had landed Rosette ran to her father's office. On her way she met some puzzled looking employees who wondered why the princess was full of dirt. Finally she burst into her father's office. Vinsent looked at her with big eyes.

"My dear, how are you looking?! You're full of dirt!" He commented her muddy dress.

Taking some deep breaths Rosette leaned with her hands on the desk.

"You didn't notice it, now did ya?" She asked strained.

"What should I have noticed?" He asked carefully. "That you managed it to get dirty within two minutes? I just talked to you two minutes ago about Joshua and Azmaria. Then you left and now you're standing in front of me again full of mud!" He complained and said something with 'the new carpet is now totally ruined.'

"What? I haven't talked to you! I wasn't even here in the last week!" Rosette protested and wanted to go on talking.

"Of cause you have been here all the time." Vinsent tried to calm her down. "I guess you are just overtaxed with Joshua and Azmaria being kidnapped, but I promise yo-"

"WHAT?! JOSHUA AND AZMARIA ARE KIDNAPPED?!" Rosette screamed loudly.

"Yes, you were the one who saw it! Don't you remember?" Vinsent looked at her like she was crazy. He got up from his big chair and patted her shoulder. "I think some sleep would be good for you."

"I DON'T WANNA SLEEP! NOW TAKE A SEAT AND LISTEN!" The blonde yelled at him. Terrified by her anger Vinsent quickly did what he was told to. "Now?" He asked.

"At first look out of the window and tell me who you are seeing." She commanded and pointed to the window. Slowly Vinsent got up again and looked outside. There he saw some employees and maids hurrying over the court or in the big garden. Then he saw something very interesting for him. There was a girl whose waist long hair sparkled in the sun like pure gold. (AN: remember in this fanfic Rosette has longer hair than usual)

"No, that can't be… that just can't be!" Vinsent stuttered and looked from the girl in the court to the girl next to him. "But how can it be that you are here directly next to me and to the same time down there in the court? I don't understand that!" He held his head with his right hand and brushed his light blonde bangs out of his face.

"She's a shape shifter. They kidnapped me before I arrived here. Then she took in my place." Rosette said with a low voice.

"How do I know that YOU aren't the shape shifter?" Vinsent's expression went serious.

"Because I am your real daughter." Rosette replied shortly. "Do some tests or whatever you want to proof it. But I am the real one."

"Don't worry. I will do that." He asked her some questions. And only the real Rosette would know the answers to them. Of cause it wasn't a difficult task for the girl to answer all them correctly.

"Yes, you are my real daughter." Vinsent said relieved and hugged her. "But how did you escape?"

And so Rosette told him the whole story. Then it was Vinsent's turn to tell her that Joshua and Azmaria were kidnapped.

At the end Vinsent nodded and sent some soldiers to take the faked princess into the court.

There he awaited her. She looked shocked as she saw the real Rosette behind him and on the pyre she confessed that she was a shape shifter. But unfortunately she killed herself before they had gotten any information. Now they didn't have any trace where to find Joshua and Azmaria. The king suggested Chrno and Rosette to have a look on the letter the shape shifter had given them. They agreed to that idea and now all three of them were sitting in the office leaning over the letter.

The first text in the human language was about the demons kidnapping them and beginning the war. The second text was in Latin, the demon language. Vinsent only sat stunned there and watched the two younger ones only reading the text and talking about it in a language he had never heard. He began to wonder why his daughter even knew how to speak it.

Chrno pouted. That letter was a brazenness. In the first text the writers blamed the demons for everything, so the humans would think the demons were the bad ones. But in the second text they said that neither demons nor humans would find out who's really to blame. In a brazen and teasing manner the writer explained to the demons that they need someone to blame and that the demons were perfect for this job. They laughed about them. Then they needed a war between human and demonic kingdom. But at the end of the text it was clear that the writer were neither human nor demons. Chrno told that to Vinsent who was really angered by that because he didn't know who were the real enemies now. The last text couldn't be translated. Chrno didn't understand it as well as all others didn't. It was written in runes.

So Chrno proposed taking it to someone who could translate it. He also said that he knew someone how was able to. Also Vinsent didn't like the thought of trusting a demon very much, he thanked Chrno and asked him to bring the letter to this person. Chrno nodded and said that he would be on his way in the afternoon. At first he wanted to rest three hours. He bowed and disappeared in the room they had given him.

"I'm worried about Joshua, you know?" Rosette said and bit her lower lip. "Can't I go with Chrno to find him?"

"No, not in a thousand years. You are the princess and you will not travel around. Especially not with a demon." Her father said sternly. The girl knew that she didn't have a chance against him when he was in this mood and excited the room as well.

--

very little flash Back:

"You are a betrayer!" DeFaux yelled.

"No! I am not! I'm just trying to keep the peace because I don't want a wave of suffering and pain to go through our land!" Aion yelled. He was surprised over the determination in his own voice.

The other Lords watched them with big eyes. Normally nobody dared to say something against Lord DeFaux. And now Aion who was with his 17 years not even a full adult rebelled against him. Unbelievable.

Silence embraced them as the two demons glared at each other.

"I say he is a betrayer, too!" The northern Lord rose from his armchair.

"And so do I say." The Western Lady stood up as well. The generals in the background mumbled something.

"I say this is a case for Pandemonium." One of the high generals said suddenly and everybody looked shocked at him. The Queen Pandemonium let the Lords administrate their land by themselves. The Lords had the rights to fight a war as well without asking her. In the last 189 years the Lords hadn't even asked Pandemonium for an advice. Doing that was only allowed when there was a really big problem which couldn't be solved between the Lords themselves.

"I will ask for an audience." The western Lady said.

"Good. But listen, young boy." DeFaux pronounced the words 'young boy' especially to show Aion that he wasn't worth anything. "If you don't change your mind within the next two days. I will declare war to the Southern county. Take this as a warning."

With that they all left the meeting room. Only Aion stayed back. Angrily he hit the table with his hand. He only had tried to keep the peace, to protect his county and what was now the reward for that? Only more war! Plus he really started to hate DeFaux and the other Lords, but mostly DeFaux. If they wanted a war, they would get a war. The white haired man decided to send a message to tell Chrno that they had some trouble here at home and so he did.

--

Rosette went again in her father's office. She said goodbye and told him that she would be outside a little bit to enjoy the landscape.

--

Chrno had just left half an hour before a messenger from the demonic kingdom arrived exhausted at the royal summer residence. He told them that he looked for Chrno but unfortunately he had to hear that the one he was looking for was already gone and they didn't know where he was. Great. The messenger pulled a face. Today was just not his lucky day. Now he could look all over the human kingdom for his master…

--

Chrno had the letter in one of his pockets. Now he was flying over the land trying to come as fast as possible to the one he was looking. While he had flown over the village around the summer residence he had to take care that he wasn't shot by a spear thrown by some scarred people. It was understandable that they would attack him. Demons were still their enemies, so they were dangerous. Chrno knew that and tried to keep away from the villages and towns.

After 15 minutes he had left the area around the summer residence. Now he enjoyed the nice view over a big field with long yellow green grass. Suddenly his eyes spotted something. It was a horse with its rider. Taking an exact look he saw that it was Rosette. The young demon dived through a white cloud and flew lower. He rushed over the field. Rosette turned around in her saddle and waved at him. She called loudly "Hello!" as he came closer. Afterwards she shaded her eyes with one hand.

"Hi, Rozetto!" He greeted her as well. "What are you doing here? Don't you want to rest? You didn't get much sleep last night except for the nap under the trees in the forest."

"I don't need so much sleep. My brother is kidnapped as well as one of my best friends is. You don't believe that I'm just sitting at home doing nothing. I'm going to find him now. No matter what happens."

"And your father just let you go?" Chrno narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow. He moved his wings to stay in the air.

"Hehe." Rosette laughed nervously.

"Of cause he didn't and you're now going away on your own." Chrno noticed.

"Uhm. Kind of." She admitted. "But you could take me with you. Then I would be safe and I would find Joshua and Azmaria sooner." She grinned at him.

"Don't only think of that. I'm going to bring you home directly!" Chrno protested.

"Ah, come on, please" The blonde urged him.

"No! At the end they say again: The bad devil has kidnapped the princess again. NO! Forget it, Rozetto!"

Now she tried her puppy dog eyes.

"I said no!" Chrno repeated and avoided to look her in the eyes.

"I tell you something." Rosette snapped. "I will look for my brother. If you bring me back I will run away again to look for him. You know how stubborn I can be. So don't even try to change my mind." She snarled. Her ocean blue eyes narrowed and glared at him. "With your help or without your help, I will find him." Was that a shaking in her voice?

"Are you feeling alright?" Chrno asked carefully.

Suddenly Rosette stopped her horse which was the equus umbraticus. Chrno overtook her accidentally, braked and flew in a circle around her until he landed three meters next to her.

"Rozetta?" Chrno asked again while he folded his wings on his back. She looked away from him and clutched her own arms. Her blonde bangs were covering her eyes.

"At least one time…" She pressed out of her mouth. "At least one time I want to be able to protect him." She began to sob.

"Hey, come on. It wasn't your fault." Chrno tried to comfort her. He told her to get off the horse as well and sit down in the grass for a while. She looked at him shortly and swung her leg over the horse. She glided down and landed directly in front of Chrno. Before the purple head knew what happened the blonde hung around his neck, crying in his shoulder.

"At least one time I want to be able to protect him… my dear brother. When we were kids he was always sick. I wanted to help him, I wanted to save his life, but that was not possible. He got only sicker… And I couldn't do something against it. Now he's finally better again and then he's kidnapped! But this time I can really help Joshua. I can bring him back. I'm not useless anymore! And Azmaria too! When we were younger she did so much for me… was always there for me. I want to do something for her too! I don't want to sit at home waiting for news. I'm so scarred that something really really bad happens to them. If I try to help them… then I know that I did my best. If I don't even try to, I couldn't live with that thought anymore." Rosette cried and buried her face in Chrno's clothes.

**AN: ** awww, it's such a nice weather outside today =D *takes laptop and sits outside to write chapter*

And uhm yeah… The story needs to go on.

**Please review.**

Byebye until next time =D


	27. V Chapter 27

**Chapter 27:**

The shadow horse snorted and took a little nap while it was still standing.

Chrno stroke softly Rosette back. He didn't know what else to do to comfort her and she obviously didn't want to let go of him. As Rosette didn't stop sobbing Chrno had to find another way to calm her down. He hugged her tighter. Doing so he sniffed at her hair and found out that it smelled really good. Just like the scent of the stigmata it calmed him down. Feeling that he relaxed Rosette calmed down a little bit. Suddenly she opened her eyes again and stopped crying. There was a strange new sound.

"Chrno?"

"Hm?"

"Are you purring?" She lifted her eyebrow and looked at him.

"Sorry." Chrno smiled nervously and let go of her to take one step back.

"Never mind. So, does that mean I can come with you now?" She asked with her sugar sweet voice and laced her hands behind her back.

"That's a really mean trick, you know that?" Chrno pointed at her and smiled lightly.

"Sure. If my puppy dog eyes don't work, I have to take stronger weapons. And nothing's stronger than a woman's weapon." Rosette grinned and was about to get on her horse again.

"Eh, you don't really want to _ride_ all the way, do you?" Chrno doubted.

"Actually yes…" Rosette answered puzzled.

"But Rozetta! That takes ages until we arrive!" He protested.

She put her foot out of the stirrup again and turned to him. "And how do you want to go there then?"

Two minutes later:

"AHHHH! NOT SO FAST I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHT!! NOT SO HIGH; NOT SO HIGH!!! AND NOT SO FAST PLEASEEEEEEE-AHHHHHH!" The blonde shrieked and clung on Chrno's shirt while his big wings were carrying them over the landscape with a deadly speed about 200 meters over the ground.

"Would you please stop screaming in my ear? You make me deaf." Chrno complained and made a little curve to the right so they wouldn't collide with a swarm of birds.

"How long does it take until we arrive there? Wait- where are we actually going?" Why hadn't she asked that before? That was one of the most important things after all!

Chrno shortly glanced down to her with his amber eyes. Then he turned his attention back on their way. "We're going to a very big library. It's placed between Soronada and the east coast. But it's difficult to find because it's deep in the forest. The woods shall protect the library from intruders. All the knowledge of the whole world is kept there in books. Oh my, there are millions of books… Accordingly the library building is so big that it even got its own name, Wikipedia. (AN: sorry, that had to be XD) Anyways I found it as I travelled around. From the air you can see it better than if you search for it on the ground. The guard of the library is an old man. He knows a lot and I'm sure he knows how to translate the runes." Then he quickly added: "It's not far from here. Maybe we arrive tonight."

Rosette nodded understanding and asked if they could have a little stop in the next village. She wanted to send a message. Moreover she was hungry and wanted something to eat.

Chrno rolled with his eyes and wonder how she could eat so much without getting fat…

Some time later:

The purple haired demon had been right. It was already late in the night as they landed on the top of a huge building. He woke Rosette up who had fallen asleep and let her down. With tired eyes the blonde checked her surroundings. Mostly she saw huge trees and only more huge trees. They were much taller than the ones at home. It was also warmer here than in the north part of the country. So the plants hadn't lost their leaves yet. A closer look at the building told her that it was very old, several hundred or even thousand years perhaps. It was also overgrown with ivy and other plants. Somehow it reminded her of one of these old Maya pyramids she had seen in a book. Startled Rosette jumped around as Chrno tipped at her shoulder to tell her to come inside. There was a little opening in the roof. A staircase led there. On the wall was a holder with a torch. Chrno took it and said something. The torch caught fire. Like this they went through the different corridors. Inside the building it looked pretty much like outside some ivy and tendrils hung from the ceiling. Then the corridor ended in a big hall. In the hall were hundreds of book shelves. The walls were covered with book shelves as well. There were also some little balconies which made it possible to keep the books in several storeys.

"This is the main hall. There are more other halls next to this building or in the underground." Chrno explained to her.

"Hey look! Is this the guard you told me about?" Rosette asked and pointed to a place at the end of the hall. There was a little table which was lightened by a chandelier with three candles. Behind it a person sat. He leaned close over a papyrus roll.

Chrno nodded and they went in his direction.

"Stop." The old man behind the desk said as the distance between him and the two younger ones was only 6 meters. He really looked like you would imagine an old man – white hair, white beard, his face wrinkled and a pair of little glasses on his nose. "I am the guard of Wikipedia, a scholar, a scientist. My name is Edward Hamilton. So tell me now. Who are you and what do you want?"

Rosette and Chrno looked to each other. The girl decided to begin. She told him who she was and that she needed his help. Then it was Chrno's turn, but he and the Elder already know each other.. He gave him as well the letter with the runes. The old man took it and held a magnifying glass over it. Then he mumbled something only he could hear and understand. The library guard rose from his chair and rushed with a surprising speed to one of the book shelf. There he took one book which he opened and closed it again in order to put it back. He continued doing that until Rosette cleared her throat to get his attention back.

"Oh right. You're still here. I'm sorry I forgot you…" He apologized and came back with the right book.

Rosette glanced to Chrno with the 'are you sure he can really help us?' look in her face.

"You underrate me, young lady." The elder said. Stunned the blonde wondered that he had even noticed her look. She mumbled a sorry nevertheless.

The elder took a look in his book and then again on the letter. Silence filled the room now. A drop of hot wax sizzled as it fell down from the candle and hit the table. The elder put the letter down on the table and announced happily that he knew now what the letter said.

Rosette clapped her hands and jumped up and down. "Really? And does it say where we can find my dear brother and Azmaria?" She asked curiously.

"It is a riddle. I know the answer to it. But I won't tell you. It's important that you find it out by yourselves." He spoke. "And I'll only tell you the riddle under one condition."

"Okay, what condition? I guess we can fulfil it." Chrno answered him and shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh I guess that too." The elder said smirking and rubbed his hands.

…

"EEEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!!!!!! GET HIM OFF!" Rosette shrieked loudly.

The elder had embraced her with one arm while he was groping her breasts with the other hand. He was rubbing his head at her décolleté as well. "You know I am really lonely here. I don't have visitors very often, no pretty girls like you…" The old mean squeaked pleased and continued.

"GET HIM OFF!!!"

BANG

Chrno had bonged him with his elbow on the head. Whimpering the old man sat on the floor and rubbed the lump on his head. "Owowow…"

Growling Rosette stood there. Her hands were balled to fists. It was really hard for her to hold her temper back now. "That. Was. The. Last. Thing. You. Did." She snarled. Chrno saw that that wouldn't have a good end and gripped Rosette around her waist and lifted her up a bit to hold her back.

"LET ME GO! I'LL KILL HIM!!!!" She yelled at him. "I'LL KILL HIM!!!" The Elder was now smirking amused.

"ARG; I KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE PERVERT! NOW; LET ME GO; CHRNO!"

"Rozetta!" Chrno shouted back at her. "I don't mind you killing him, but at first he has to tell us what's on the letter. Afterwards you can kill him!" He tried to convince her.

The blonde growled again. "Fine. Then let me down at least."

Directly after he did so, the elder found himself in a super-mega-hyper-noogie attack. Puzzled Chrno looked over to the two.

"What?" Rosette stopped shortly. "You've said I'm not allowed to kill him now, but you said nothing about torturing him." As the elders head began to smoke, the girl let him go again. "So, I hope that will teach you a lesson." The blonde still glared at him and he nodded quickly.

"Will you give us the riddle now?" Chrno asked once more.

"Not now." The library guard said and yawned.

"WHY NOT?!" Rosette screamed at him.

"I'm tired now. Perhaps tomorrow. You can have two rooms here for the rest of the night." He offered them. "Or do you prefer one room with a double bed?"

BONG BONG

Two new lumps on his head caused by both, Rosette and Chrno.

"I guess that's a no…" The elder winced and showed them their rooms. Chrno's room was at the end of the right corridor while Rosette's room was at the end of the left corridor. The purple haired demon had already disappeared in his room while the elder handed Rosette the key to her room. As the blonde wanted to take it from him a smirk appeared again on his face.

"You know my dear, if you have a nightmare or something like that, you can come over in my bed and –"

"NO THANK YOU." And she slammed him the door in the face.

--

Because Chrno felt quite uncomfortable here, he decided not to sleep. Later on he asked the elder if he could borrow a book. With that he sat down in the armchair in his room. He cursed as the wind blew the candle out. Why didn't the damn window have a glass pane?! He lightened the candle again and suddenly his door burst open. Rosette entered the room. She was really, really pissed off.

"Do you need that?" She snapped and pointed on the bed.

"Uh, no. But why do you wanna sleep in my room?" The young man asked confused.

"Because" Rosette told him. "I can't sleep five minutes long without that old pervert frog sneaking in my room, trying to do some disgusting stuff. Good night." She lay down in the small bed and pulled the blankets over her head.

"Uhm… okay…" Chrno replied and continued reading the book. It was a thin book though. So he had read it after only one and a half hour. He brought it back to its place in the book shelf and went back in the bedroom. There he didn't knew what to do and walked around. There was a beautiful tapestry on one wall and he took a closer look at it. When he was finished with that he looked out of the window. Outside were only the woods and the blackness of the lights. The window was in the first floor. Most of the trees were higher than that and their leaves covered the night sky. No light from the moon or the stars came through the tree crowns. Chrno sighed and took some steps back again and looked over to Rosette. She was now fully asleep and turned around a few times. He went over to her and smiled at the sleeping blonde. Carefully he brushed one of her blonde bangs out of her face. Suddenly she gripped his arm and pulled him down. "Don't go away Joshua… stay here… don't take him away from me…" She mumbled in her sleep. Panicked Chrno tried to get his arm free. The result was that Rosette embraced it tighter and pulled harder on it. Now Chrno lost balance and fell down on top of her. Rosette woke up.

"CHRNO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

**SLAP**

Meanwhile the Elder peeked into the room and called "Ha-haaa." like Nelson in 'The Simpsons'.

--

**AN:** Lol, after I wrote half of the meeting with the library guard I noticed that I could write as well that the Elder is this guard. I quickly rewrote it and then I even had some stuff to make the chapter funnier and longer +grins+ … and I didn't know how I should include the elder in the fanfic. This seemed to be the best place.


	28. V Chapter 28

**Chapter 28:**

After that restless night Rosette and Chrno were pretty tired. On the other hand the Elder didn't seem to be too. Rosette was kinda pissed today and nearly all 5 minutes she had to bong on the Elder's head or slap him because he tried some nasty things.

"And what's now this 'riddle'" The blonde asked annoyed. She wanted to come away from this place as soon as possible. She crossed her arms and tipped with her foot a few times on the floor.

"Okay, okay. It is not difficult, it really isn't. The letter says: You have to leave the well-known grounds and you have to cross the thing which is necessary for life, but it's deadly in a bigger amount. You will find the Prince and the little girl at a place which is neither human, nor demonic, nor sacred. The apostles will awake that what's dead for a long time now. The master will test you as he is awake. Alone you will reach nothing. Only pure and brave hearts can resist him." The Elder coughed and turned around to a book shelf. He didn't say anything more. (AN: I am so bad in making riddles… you can't believe it…)

Chrno hesitated. "Uhm, was that all?" He asked confused.

"Yes. And I won't tell you more." The older one shortly answered. "Find it out by yourself. Oh, and here you have something that you will need." He looked for something in his pocket. That what he pulled out was a key. It looked pretty old and was big. Rosette took it and put it in her own pocket.

Great. That didn't really help, now did it? Sulking Rosette sat down in an arm chair which was next to another book shelf. Chrno leaned next to her on the shelf. At the moment they had no idea where the said place was.

"Water…" Rosette said suddenly. Surprised Chrno looked over to the girl. She leaned with her head on one hand. She had narrowed her eyes and looked into empty space. "The first thing is water. It's necessary for life, but if there's too much water you're drowning." She spoke slowly. "So we have to cross the water. But what water? There are a million rivers and brooks around. But then there's still the thing with the well-known ground…" She added thoughtfully.

"Perhaps this 'water' doesn't mean a river, but something much bigger." Chrno suggested. He also proposed to look on a map. There had to be something like that in the library, didn't it? After only a few moments of searching he came back with the sheet of paper he was looking for. He unfolded it and held it in front of him. Rosette came closer as well to have a look on it. It was a relatively new map. There was the demonic kingdom in the very north with the Pandemonium in the middle. At its south-east border there were the big mountains and next was the human kingdom with the capital Soronada in the south. Together the human and the demonic kingdom were one big continent with a big ocean around it. In the south east of this continent was another mainland. But this mainland and the other continent were still separated by the ocean. Plus the map only showed a little piece of the land. Rosette had heard that there was another continent over the ocean, but she didn't know much about it. Now she knew at least that its name was Krefya. The blonde pointed on it. "Do you think we should look there? It's unknown ground and it's across the sea."

Chrno nodded and told her that they would leave the library in the noon. Krefya was the only clue they had at the moment. Perhaps they would find out more there. He also informed the Elder about their plans. The old man grinned and wished them luck for their journey. Of course they wanted to keep the map. Rosette thanked him for that and said goodbye. The Elder wanted to say goodbye to her on his own pervy way. Luckily for Rosette he bumped directly into Chrno's fist.

"Thanks." The blonde muttered to the purple head.

"No, problem…"

They excited the library and were now standing on the roof. With one fast movement Chrno lifted Rosette up in his arms and was airborne. This time Rosette didn't complain about the height or the speed. She had the first clue and she wanted to find her brother as soon as possible. After two hours they took a little break. The demon looked at the map again. Somehow they had to come to the south-east coast. There the way between the coast and Krefya wasn't so far.

Fortunately the city with the biggest harbour was less than a day far away if they flew without a second break. And so they did. In the late afternoon they arrived. Before they came too close to the city, Chrno landed in the forest. That was better. He didn't want the citizens to attack because of his demonic origin. Therefore he also switched in his human form. They called their equui umbractici and entered the town on this way.

The town was quite crowed. There were a lot of rich people and merchants or businessmen. On the other hand a lot of little thieves weren't missing as well. Next to the harbour there were some little fisher huts as well. In the water there were all kinds of ships and boats, beginning with littler fisher boats, ending with some huge sailing vessels. Amazed the two teenagers watched the huge ships.

"I think it shouldn't be difficult to find a ship which takes us to the other side." Chrno guessed. The girl asked why they didn't just fly. That would be much faster. He shook his head and explained to her that the way was too long. They couldn't take a break. In addition to that the winds and air streams over the ocean were different and Chrno didn't know much about them. Plus his wings were aching because he wasn't used to fly such a long time while carrying a second person. Willy-nilly they had to go by the ship.

Rosette stopped some passer-bys to ask them which ship would go to Krefya. They all spoke the eastern language which was different from the usual human language. But as they heard the word Krefya they all pointed to one special ship.

The boat seemed to be the only one going there. It was huge and had five masts with big sails. Eagerly the sailors prepared the ship or carried boxes in or out of it. One man with a thick read beard observed their work and yelled some commands from time to time. Chrno tipped at Rosette's shoulder and pointed on him. She nodded and they went over to the place he was standing. Chrno greeted him and fortunately he spoke English.

"You want to come with us to Krefya? Well, I always need some young men working on the ship." He muttered under his beard and chuckled. Immediately his face was serious again as he saw Rosette behind Chrno. He looked to the purple head again. "_Keine Frauen._" He granted in his mother tongue. "No women." He repeated so they would understand him.

"What?!" Rosette burst out. "Why not?!"

The old sailor glared at her. "No women. You, boy, can come with us. But your little girlfriend there stays here." With that he turned around and entered the ship.

"This is a brazenness!" Rosette scolded and crossed her arms.

"ROSETTE!" A loud female voice was calling her.

Stunned Rosette turned around to look for the person calling her name. At first she didn't recognize anyone in the crowd, but then she saw the knee long red hair. The woman was coming towards them fast.

"Sathella!" The blonde shouted out in surprise and rushed over to her. It was nice to see her again.

"Hey, Rozetto, wait for me!" Chrno called and hurried after her.

Sathella already chatted happily with the other girl. As she saw the purple head coming she stopped shortly and Rosette introduced both.

"Awww, he's such a cutie!" Sathella squeaked and hugged Chrno tightly. His face was already getting blue. "Where did you get him from?"

"As if I would tell you that." Rosette pulled on the redhead's arm and the other woman let go of Chrno who gasped for breath.

"Nya, don't be so mean!" Sathella teased her. "So, I'm pretty surprised to see you here. Is there are special reason for your visit?"

"We're looking for her brother. He disappeared." Chrno explained her and paid attention that he didn't come too close to the redhead anymore.

"Oh, really? That's terrible!" Sathella called out. "Come on. Looks like you have already a long day behind you. I invite you to stay at my house. There you can explain everything to me."

Rosette smiled and agreed to that. Sathella's house was actually owned by her whole family. It was huge and two staircases led to the front door from the left and right side. A butler greeted them. Sathella introduced their guests to him. "Und bereite die Gästezimmer vor." (German for: "And prepare the guest rooms.") She told the butler whose name was Steiner. He bowed and disappeared. Afterwards Sathella led Chrno and Rosette to the living room. There they talked about the last events. To Chrno and Rosette's surprise the big ship which should go to Krefya was owned by Sathella's father.

The father was a rich merchant who traded with jewels and jewellery. He was the only one who had a legal permit to trade with Krefya. That was also the place where he got the extraordinary jewels from. Sathella told them also that they wouldn't find a ship which would take Rosette over the sea. The sailors said that a woman on board brought bad luck and misfortune. That angered the ocean and the sea would make the ship sink. Therefore no female person was allowed to enter the ships.

"And you're sure that you can't convince your father to take us over the sea?" Rosette asked again.

Sathella slowly shook her head and caused that a part of her long her flew over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but he's really stubborn. I myself tried it a hundred times, always without success." The woman sighed and took a sip out of her cup of tea. "The only way he would take you over, Rosette, is if you were suddenly a boy." Sathella chuckled ironically and emptied her cup.

"So, is that so…" Rosette pressed her lips together and glanced over to the holster of Chrno's dagger and of his sword. He had taken off the belt, so he could sit down in the armchair. With a quick movement she pulled the dagger out of the holster. Faster than anyone could react the long blonde braid landed on the ground. Now her hair didn't reach to her waist anymore. It was barely longer than Chrno's. It only reached to her shoulder blades now. (AN: Now it's the same length she wears her hair in the Manga)

The two others in the room stared at her. The redhead gasped. "B-but your beautiful hair!"

"You said I needed to become a boy to go on the ship. So here I am." Rosette smirked. "Chrno, I need some of your clothes."

The young man frowned shortly and looked over her. "Good. I'll give you some, but I tell you: They're too big for you."

Rosette answered him that that didn't matter for now. Chrno gave her some clothes and she disappeared in her room. After she fought a little while with the laces of her dress, she finally took it off and the other clothes on. For her it was uncomfortable to wear a pair of trousers. Until now she had only worn dresses and so on. The cloth of the trousers itched. Moreover they were too wide and too long. With a belt she fixed it. Then the shirt. That was too big as well. But she was only happy that it wasn't see-through. Apropos… That was a problem as well. Perhaps she could hide her female curves with bandaging her chest. The blonde sighed and took the shoes. Guess what, yeah, too big as well. Furthermore she tied her hair to a knot at the back of her head. When she was done she took a look into the big mirror to her left. She pulled a face and stick out her tongue to the picture in the mirror. She really needed some other clothes…

Meanwhile Chrno moved from one side of the couch to the other while Sathella moved closer and closer. She just spread out her arms and Chrno was sure that she didn't only want to hug him. So Chrno got up rapidly. "If you excuse me. I'll be off to the bathroom." He said and went out of the room. Sathella couldn't hold her balance and plopped on the ground. "Oww, little meanie… he just doesn't understand a little bit of fun…"

On the way to the second floor Chrno met Rosette. He saw her and stunned for a moment.

"What?" She barked.

"Would it be okay for me to laugh, Rozetta?" He pressed his lips together in order to suppress the laughter.

"We need to go shopping. Now." The blonde only said annoyed and dragged the purple head with her.

**AN:**So, they arrived at the east cost… oh, and there's something I wanted to say to the languages they speak: In the demonic kingdom they speak Latin, in the human kingdom mostly English, except for the east and south-east coast. There they speak German. In Krefya they speak all kinds of old Germanic or Celtic languages.


	29. V Chapter 29

**Chapter 29:**

Although it was early evening the market was crowded as hell. Everywhere people tried to sell their goods. Mostly you could find fishers who wanted to sell their catch. The town was directly next to the sea after all. Some others sold beautiful pieces of cloth. The next time Rosette would need material for a new dress, she would come here to buy it. The cloth looked expensive, other looked exotic.

In addition to that there was another very big shop as well. It was a big house with a white façade and some beige decorations. A sign over it said 'Harvenheit's Jewellery'. The shop was guarded by three big men with a lot of muscles. Without moving they stood in front of the door or the window. Rosette's eyes went wide as she saw all the beautiful earrings, necklaces and other stuff there behind the window. She just wanted to go over there and have a look at them all.

In the right moment Chrno pulled her away. "Hey, you still wear the guy's clothes, so behave like a guy. That means: Don't do anything girly-like. For example buying the whole jewellery shop." He hissed to her, so nobody else could hear. The blonde pulled a face once more and followed Chrno over to a stand which sold some men's clothes.

"Hi, we're looking for some clothes for my…uh cousin there." Chrno told the shop assistant and pointed at the blonde with the too big clothes.

The shop assistant chuckled. "Oh yeah, I see. Try that on." He handed them two pairs of trousers and three shirts. Rosette thanked him and took the stuff. Fortunately the stand had a cubicle to change the clothes at the back of the shop. She tried the clothes on. They were still too big and the man brought some new clothes. This time they were fitting. In the end Rosette had two new trousers and three shirts. That was hopefully enough. At another stand they found a pair of new shoes as well and a brown cap.

Satisfied with the things she got, Rosette asked Chrno if they could go home now. He agreed and they arrived at Sathella's house just as the rest of the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

Sathella already awaited them, slightly angry. She said with crossed arm in her armchair and tipped with her right index finger on her left arm. "That was not very nice of you… Just running of like that. I wanted to go with you shopping too!!! Miller's got new cloth and it shall look beautiful, I heard." She wailed.

"Oh, you mean that stand close to your jewellery shop?" Rosette asked her and the other woman nodded rapidly. "Oh, I saw that! There's really beautiful stuff!"

"Oh, really? How does it look like?" Sathella wanted to know immediately and within seconds the typical girls-and-their-clothes conversation started.

"Uhm, okay, I'll be in the garden then." Chrno said without being noticed by the girls who were now arguing whether light blue or light violet dresses looked better...

The butler Steiner showed him the way through the mansion to the garden. The garden was big. It had a little pond in the middle and some bushes around the whole garden. Some statues were there as well. On the staircase which led down in the garden there were some expensive looking vases. Chrno shortly looked around before he jumped easily on the roof of the big house. Roofs had always been some of his favourite places. From that point on he could see over the whole town. Moreover he had some time to rest there. It was a place for him and nobody else would disturb him.

Well, nearly nobody. It seemed that there was a festival or something like that on a hill in the north-east of the town. The people and the music there were so loud that even a normal human ear could hear it at the other end of the town. Interested Chrno looked over to that spot. It would be a nice change to have a little party. In the last time they had always been stressed and the mood was pretty down. He jumped off the roof and landed softly on the ground. He entered the house again and looked for Sathella and Rosette. Steiner told him that the redhead wanted to show Rosette some of her clothes in her room. Chrno went upstairs. He could already hear the two girls argue. The door to the room was open. He knocked nevertheless and got the girls attention. They sat next to the make-up table and turned around at the same time

"WHICH COLOUR LOOKS BETTER?" They both barked at him and each one of them held up a little case with eye-shadow. Both eye-shadows were of the same colour…

"Errr… both?" Chrno suggested.

"That's no answer for our problem!" Rosette shouted. "Now, which looks better?"

"Okay… uh, the right one." Chrno frowned and asked Sathella about the festival while Rosette muttered something and put the case down on the table.

"Oh, right! I nearly forgot that festival!" Sathella clapped her hands. "Why do you ask? Do you want me to be your girl for the dance?" She purred with hearts in her eyes. These hearts soon changed into spirals because Rosette gave her a noogie attack. "AHHHHHHHH! LEMME GO!" She squeaked and struggled with her arms.

Chrno chuckled and told them to get ready. They would go there all together. Sathella even lent Rosette one of her dresses. It had a dark blue corset with some buttons at the front, long white sleeves and a white skirt. Fitting to that, she wore a dark blue choker. (AN: It's the dress from the Manga) A part of her hair was pulled up into two pigtails, so it wouldn't fall into her face all the time. The rest of her hair just hung loosely over her shoulder.

Sathella chose one of her good dresses as well. It was dark green with a big décolleté. To that she wore a gold belt. Chrno just wore his usual clothes. He didn't saw a need in changing them now. Because of the cold outside all of them wore a cloak. Sathella's cloak was with fur on it. Sathella's butler Steiner came along with them as well.

"Puh, she's always bragging…" Rosette complained muttering.

"What did ya say?" The said woman asked.

"Uh, nothing!"

As they arrived at the festival there were already a lot of people. They were all having fun, chatting, dancing, drinking, flirting and so on. It didn't take a long time until Sathella had found a partner to dance and vanished with him on the dance floor. Steiner disappeared as well. He had spotted his boss, Mr. Harvenheit, and wanted to talk to him.

Meanwhile Chrno got something to drink for him and Rosette. He came back with two tankards of mead. There wasn't any alcohol law which prohibited under aged people to consume alcohol. The bar keepers decided by themselves who was old enough to get alcohol and who was not. The mead wasn't that strong anyway. It tasted good.

After Rosette had emptied her drink she insisted on dancing and dragged Chrno to the dance floor. He protested at first because he hadn't danced since a long long time ago.

After one drink more he found out that it actually made fun. Suddenly Rosette screamed because someone ribbed the little purse off which hung at her waist. "WAIT YOU LITTLE THIEF!" The blonde yelled after him. Chrno was already on his heels, behind him Rosette. They caught the little thief at the border of the festival place next to a little dark street. The thief wasn't tall. He had brown hair and he was probably of the same age as Azmaria.

"I want that purse back, now!" Chrno snarled at him.

"Ha, you wish!" The boy called and suddenly three bullies appeared behind him. They were his brothers. The youngest one stuck out his tongue.

"Still want that purse back?" The tallest one said and smirked. He was about two head taller than Chrno.

"Yes, I guess." The purple head simply replied. At the same time Rosette arrived and demanded her purse back as well.

"My, my… so you want your purse back, young miss?" The second bully said teasingly. "And what if not? Does your little friend there beat us?" All four laughed.

"At first I warn ya, then I'll beat ya." Chrno answered them and smirked evilly. They began to laugh ones more.

Two seconds later:

"Here you have your purse, young miss." Chrno grinned widely at Rosette, bowed shortly and gave her the purse.

The blonde chuckled and took it. "You know it can be really useful to have a demon as friend." She laughed.

"Yeah, but don't say that too loud." Chrno still grinned. Suddenly he placed an arm around her shoulder. Then he turned with her around and they were in the middle of the festival again.

"And? What do you wanna do know, Rozetta?" Chrno asked her.

"Uhm… I don't know…" She said half stuttering. He had still his arm around her and that made her blush.

"Ah, come one!" He released her and spread out his arms. "The whole world is yours tonight! Allow yourself to have some fun!"

That actually surprised Rosette. Chrno was always the calm one. She didn't expect him to enjoy this festival so much… or it was the alcohol. That was more possible.

"Uhm… I already had fun." She replied to answer his question. "And I don't want to get to much exhausted. We're leaving tomorrow. Don't forget that." She admonished him.

Chrno frowned. "Have you never had a real party there at your fancy palace?" He wanted to know in surprise. "Then I have to show you how it works." He took her hand and led her through the crowd.

"But I don't wanna have more fun!" Rosette protested, but she followed him. Nothing would be worse than getting lost in this amount of people. Who knew what kinds of people were there.

"You're always too serious!" The purple head complained. _Oh yeah? Isn't it you who was serious all the time? _Rosette thought, she didn't speak it out loud though.

Suddenly he stopped and turned around to her. He didn't grin anymore. He was now serious again. But his face had this soft understanding look. "Listen, Rozetto. I know you would rather want to run straight to your brother. But you have to understand that you can't always run, you need to rest too. We can't do anything before tomorrow. You should use the time to relax. You're always so strained. Pushing all the stress into you is not good. On the outside you may look okay, but I know that you're not. Understand?"

Hu? Rosette stunned. Was that right? Did she really push the stress into herself without relaxing? Was she really so strained? And why did he notice that and she didn't? The girl sighed. She really wanted to see Joshua now. But Chrno's words were right.

"Alright then." She sighed once more and Chrno grinned again.

"Good." Chrno was in a good mood again and dragged her further into the crowd. Some musicians played a fast polka and Chrno convinced Rosette to dance.

Later on they found Sathella again. She had lost her new friend in the crowd, but therefore she had found Steiner again. The old man was just buying something to drink for her while the redhead sat at one of the many benches. Her coat lay next to her on the right. Sathella waved at them and greeted them with a "Yuhuuuu!". Then she made a gesture to Steiner that he had to buy two more drinks.

Chrno and Rosette let themselves plop onto the bench which stood next to the table opposite to Sathella's.

"And how's the party here?" Sathella wanted to know.

"Good. The eastern people really know how to celebrate." Chrno commented as he took the drink from Steiner and thanked him. They clinked with the glasses and began to chat hilariously.

It was getting late and Chrno suggested going home now before they really drank too much. Sathella absolutely refused to go home. She wanted to stay a little bit longer. So the other two teenagers forced their way through the crowd. Rosette had to cling on Chrno's sleeve because she stumbled over almost every damn stone on the damn street. Perhaps the last drink had been too much…

Finally at home Chrno said good night and went into his room. He blew out the candle and lay down in his bed - before he had changed in other clothes. He was just about to fall asleep as the door burst open again. Immediately he sat straight up again.

"AH!" Rosette shrieked. "Hurry up! There's something in my room!" She screamed louder.

"What?" He was now fully awake again. The demon jumped out of his bed and followed Rosette in her room.

There: "KILL IT KILL IT!!!" The blonde shouted.

"Eh… Rozetto…" Chrno started slightly annoyed.

"KILL IT!"

"It's only a spider…"

"I KNOW! SO KILL IT!"

"I can't believe it." Chrno shook his head. Actually he wanted to laugh, but he was too tired. "You're standing right next to a demon and the only thing you worry about is the little spider there?" It was more a realization than a question.

"Yes, and now kill it!"

AN: hehe, lol, true, true, isn't it? Like always: please tell me what you think and review. I would really appreciate it. Thanks


	30. V Chapter 30

**Chapter 30:**

Chrno yawned loudly. The stupid sun had woken him up. Plus he had forgotten to close the curtains yesterday, so the bright sun beams shone him directly in the eyes. He pulled the blanket over his head. He heard muffled footsteps running over the corridor, but he decided to ignore them. The only thing he wanted now was sleeping. The many drinks yesterday now gave him a headache. Then a knock was heard and the door swung open.

"Master Chrno, breakfast is ready." Steiner announced politely. Chrno groaned and crept further under his blanket.

"You will miss your ship if you don't get up now, young master." The old man talked to him again.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." Chrno muttered and got up after Steiner had left the room. He chose to wear a pair of brown trousers and a beige shirt. The first button at the neck was like always open. He quickly slipped in his shoes, took on the belt with the holster for his weapons and went out on the corridor. To his relief he wasn't the only one who overslept. He could hear Sathella yell at Rosette to get up. Curious he peeked in Rosette's room. The blonde clung on the bed post while Sathella tried to pull her out of the bed on her feet.

"Let go of the damn bed!" Sathella yelled at her again.

"Don't wanna get up! Wanna sleep!" Rosette yelled back and threw a big pillow at the other girl.

Chrno chuckled. Then he turned around and went down into the kitchen. A nice scent of food was coming from there.

Fifteen minutes later Rosette had managed to come downstairs as well. After smelling the foot she was fully awake too. For breakfast she ate at least four plates with food, if not more.

Then it was time for leaving. Rosette disappeared in her room again to put on the stupid man's clothes. In addition to that she bandaged her chest to hide the female curves. She also put some fresh bandages around the stigmata. They had stopped bleeding a long while ago. But it was saver to have them bandaged all the time. First, nobody could see them on that way and second there could come no dirt into the wound in case the wounds opened again. The last thing she did now was placing the cap on her head. The cap should hide her silky blonde hair. She took a final look in the mirror. Something still didn't fit… Ah there, she found an old scarf and put it around her neck.

Yeah, now she looked okay. No, wait. Something wasn't allowed to miss. She put the pocket watch around her neck. Now she was ready. And she hoped that she would be allowed to go on the ship. Apropos… uh-oh… They had totally forgotten to talk to the captain yesterday! What if there was no place on the ship anymore? Rosette gasped and rushed downstairs where the others already waited.

Chrno calmed her down and told her that everything was already settled. Yesterday he had asked Steiner to talk to the captain.

Relieved Rosette put one hand over her heart and sighed. "I don't know what I would do without you…" She said more to herself than to somebody else.

"I can tell what you would do without me." Chrno teased her. "Probably dying."

"Pah." Rosette huffed. "I'm not that helpless you know."

"Whatever."

"Isn't it time to go now?" Florette asked them. She was there as well. She lived there after all. "I think the ship leaves in the noon. You shouldn't be too late." She said in her usual shy manner.

Chrno and Rosette nodded and they took their bags – Sathella had also given them some bags in which they could put their stuff and some food. Then they hurried to the harbour and greeted the red bearded captain. The man looked shortly at them.

"Hm. Good. What are your names?" He grunted.

"My name is Chrno and this is uh-" He couldn't say 'Rosette', now, could he?

"I'm Joshua." The blonde mumbled underneath the scarf.

"Hmpf." The captain stroked his beard. "And how old are you?"

"Sixteen and fourteen years old." Chrno answered before 'Joshua' had time to say something.

"Alright." The older man grunted again. Then asked them some other various stuff. For example f they had ever been on a ship before and which works on the ship they could do. The result was that 'Joshua' should help in the kitchen and Chrno should do the look out on the top of the mast. He wasn't afraid of falling down from the mast anyways.

Finally they were allowed to enter the ship.

"Fourteen?" The blonde hissed to Chrno as nobody else heard them. "I'm fifteen and a half, not fourteen! I'm not even looking like fourteen"

"Maybe for a girl, but for a boy you look like fourteen. So please stop complaining." Chrno hissed back at her.

They just had enough time to put their stuff to their sleeping places. There were no real beds. There were only these hammocks. They were pretty uncomfortable and cold in the night. All hammocks were in one room in the fuselage of the ship. As well in the fuselage there was the food store and a store for goods. The only one who got his own room plus office was the captain. And there he stayed for nearly all the time. The kitchen was on the opposite side of the ship.

Anyways, back to the normal dorm. Chrno and Rosette chose two hammocks close to the right wall. They were also close to the exit. So they still had some light. Usually it was really dark down there in the fuselage. It wasn't very clean there as well and Rosette wondered when she would find the first rat.

…

At the moment everything was hectic on board and the two teenagers had to help. They didn't have a lot time to talk to each other until the ship was out of the harbour and until they had gotten in the right current. After that had happened, the people on the ship calmed down.

Then Rosette alias Joshua had to help in the kitchen. In the kitchen there was one cook who was the boss and some other younger boys who helped him. Some of the boys were probably twelve or thirteen years old. The old cook was mean and commented them all around. In the evening Rosette curled exhausted in her hammock. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them.

There she was. On that damn ship. And Joshua was still so far away. The travel on the ship would take the next day and half of the day after. That was definitely too long. She wanted to see her brother now. A little tear ran down her cheek. Quickly she brushed it away. No crying now. She had to be strong. The best would be to sleep now. And so she fell into a light slumber. The blonde woke up very early in the morning because of a nightmare. The nightmare had been about Joshua – like all her nightmares at the moment.

Sadly she looked around and rubbed her eyes. Great, now she couldn't sleep anymore. She wanted to do something. She didn't want to stay here! Why couldn't she do anything! That made her feel use- and helpless.

The blonde swung her legs out of the hammock and slipped softly to the ground. She didn't want to wake the other sailors. Then she climbed up the ladder which led outside. Perhaps fresh air would help her. But even the fresh air was strange here. It smelled so much like salt. There weren't any people on the deck. It was still dark outside after all. Well, okay there was the coxswain and his assistant, but nobody else. At least she thought so. Chrno jumped down from the mast right in front of her.

"Hi." He greeted Rosette who had to suppress a scream.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." He said appeasing.

"Then please don't do that again." Rosette sighed and asked him how his day was. He told her what he had done and that he was a little bit seasick. He had a headache and felt dizzy all the time, but nothing worse. Chrno leaned with his back against the parapet and looked over his shoulder down into the pitch black sea. He pulled a face.

"I don't like sailing…" He wailed.

"Awww, come on. Can't be so bad." Rosette commented and leaned over the parapet and looked to her right.

"Hey, just take care that you're not falling down there. I don't want to jump after you taking a bath in the nice cold water there." He pointed with his chin to the sea.

"Jup." Rosette stood up straight again. "But it looks so beautiful, you know. There! Don't you wanna take a look at it too?" With one hand she pulled lightly at his sleeve with the other hand she pointed to the black water.

"No thanks. I have enough headache at the moment."

"Then go and take a nap." The girl suggested. Chrno shook his head and told her that that made the headache worse.

"And what are you doing here anyways? You should sleep as well." Chrno glanced over to her with tired eyes. And so she told him what she was thinking earlier. The thing about Joshua and feeling helpless and so on.

Chrno shook his head. "Don't say that. You are not useless or helpless. Look how far you have come. You just have to be patient. You are too damn impatient. That's your problem. Why do you always wanna run, Rozetta?"

She looked at him with big eyes. Then she let her eyes sink down. "Because I'm afraid that I'm to slow to save Joshua. I really do love my brother and I don't want to lose him. That's why I'm running. I'm running to get back who I love. Moreover I concentrate on running when I do so. When I have to wait I start thinking. I get worried. What if he isn't there? What if I can't save him? What if he's sick again? Or hurt? And then the travel to that place seems so endless far to me. What if the night never ends? I feel like it doesn't." She explained. Then she put her arms on the parapet and leaned her head on her laced hands.

"There will never be a night that never ends. The sun will eventually rise. No matter how long the night may feel. No matter how deep the darkness is. Now the sunrise will push our backs." Chrno smiled softly at her and pointed to the light coming from the horizon. (AN: sorry, I didn't have a plane at this place, but I think a ship will do it as well… If you don't know this part then reread the Manga again…)

"Wow, such a beautiful sunrise!" Rosette called astonished. It indeed looked beautiful.

Chrno almost said 'As beautiful as you.' But a wave of dizziness kept him from doing do so and he actually thought that it would be better being quiet.

Slowly the others started to wake up as well and a new working day started. The cook made Rosette insane. He was just such a meanie and she needed all the psychical strength to keep herself from giving him a super noogie attack.

During the next night Rosette couldn't sleep as well. It was the last night before they arrived. Of cause she was nervous. Additional to that one of the sailors snored so loud that she couldn't get rest. She rolled around in her hammock. Suddenly there was a loud PLONG as she fell out of it and hit the ground. The blonde cursed three times and got up. She rubbed her back and cursed again. Should she now lie back down? Or should she go upstairs again. She knew that she couldn't sleep anyways. But she didn't want to be alone as well. She glanced over to her right and went over to Chrno's hammock. He was almost always awake. Perhaps she was lucky and he would come with her upstairs. He lay with the back to her. Rosette just wanted to tap on his shoulder to wake him as he turned around to her. The bright red eyes seemed like they were glowing. Quickly Rosette drew her hand back.

"'s something wrong?" He asked quietly and leaned on his elbows.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Rosette apologized.

"No. So what's up now?"

"I can't sleep… again. I don't wanna go upstairs alone." She whispered and blushed.

The purple head sighed and sat up. "Then come on." He sighed and got down from the hammock.

"Thanks." Rosette whispered again, but it was so quiet that she was sure he didn't hear it.

"No problem."

Like in the last night the deck was empty except for the two at the steering wheel, but these two people didn't see them from the point where they were standing. The teenagers went to the parapet again.

"Chrno?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you helping me?" Rosette turned around so she could face him.

"Hm. That's a good question." He replied and shrugged his shoulders. A little silence spread out. It ended as Chrno decided to go on. "I guess I'm helping you because you're my friend. Oh, and because your father is killing me if I don't take good care of you."

"Then why didn't you bring me back? Then I wouldn't burden you." She kept her voice quiet.

"I know how stubborn you can be." Chrno chuckled. "You would have gone - even without anyone helping you. Then you would come in great danger like always and in the end everybody would blame the evil devil for that. Isn't it always like that?"

Rosette smiled weakly. "Yeah. Perhaps you're right. But still, you could have been much faster without me… I'm just burdening you…"

"And you're not a burden. I'm happy that I'm not alone like all the years before when I travelled around the country." He looked at her and smiled softly.

"So, you travelled around a lot?" She asked and switched the topic.

"Yes. Since I was fourteen years old I travelled around in the human kingdom." Chrno looked up to the stars and gazed in empty space. Probably he saw some memories in front of his inner eye.

"Why that?" Rosette didn't understand why he should travel around there.

"Doing business for my father. I was the only one in my family who spoke your language. Don't forget that." He answered her. It wasn't a really helpful answer though. So the girl continued interviewing him. "But who were you visiting in order to do this business?"

"Oh, well. You don't know how many cheater and traitors live in your country. I know them all." He laughed ironically and sighed.

"That's terrible! We have to-"

"To tell it to your father? That has already happened. He takes care of that." Chrno cut her off. Then he pricked his ears.

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a new sound. It sounded like something very fast was approaching them over the water surface. Chrno and Rosette leaned over the parapet to see what it was. They saw two glimpses of light in the distance. The two spots were coming closer with a rapid speed. Then they were next to the ship.

"Sathella! Florette!" Both teenagers gasped.

AN: hehe, one of the view chapters which is longer than 2.200 words XD

Please review and tell me how it was


	31. V Chapter 31

**Chapter 31:** (O.o Actually I planned to end the story at chapter 20…. I guess everything went out of plan…)

"Sathella! Florette!" Both, Chrno and Rosette, gasped.

These were really the Harvenheit sisters! Each one of them sat on a glowing creature. Both creatures were flying, but from time to time they rushed over the water surface. The skin of the creatures – if you can call it skin at all – sparkled in the moon and star light. Sometimes it even seemed see-through. The looking reminded one much of an over-sized jewel.

"Steige, Juwelenfisch!" Sathella commanded. (AN: Translation: Rise, Jewel-fish) The big jewel-thing rose, so Sathella was now on the same height with her head than Rosette and Chrno. Now they were able to take a closer look at this jewel-fish. The head and the front were flat with a little hill in the middle. Sathella was sitting on this little hill. On the stomach the over sized fish had some sparkling fins. The tail was long and thin. At its end there were two more fins. Moreover the tail was structured into some separated parts. (AN: It's the thing Sathella has in the 'Marionette Train' chapter)

"Yo!" Sathella called and grinned widely. Florette appeared at her side. Her jewel-monster looked nearly the same. There were only some tiny differences.

"What… but how… you… ehrrr…" Rosette stuttered and pointed with a shaking hand at her.

"Do you really think that we'll let you do the funny part alone?" Sathella stemmed her fists on her waist.

"We'll help you freeing Joshua and Azmaria." Florette began to speak as well. "We thought you could need some help…"

"That's really nice of you, but… WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Chrno starred stunned at the big fish which was flying in the air.

"These are our Juwelenfische des Monats März." (AN: 'Jewel-fish of the month March.' The zodiac for March is Pisces which means fishes, so I think that fits here. Although it's autumn/ very early winter and not spring in this fanfic… ) Sathella answered them. "They are creatures summoned with jewels." She continued explaining to them.

"But how… heh?" Rosette was still confused.

"We are jewel witches and we summon these creatures. A special sort of jewel is equal with a month or a zodiac sign. The creature you see here are the Pisces." Florette said and stroke with her hand over the head of the fish. "It may be that we aren't allowed to go over the sea by boat or ship, but we have our own methods to go to Krefya." A smirk appeared on the shy girl's face.

"And why haven't you taken us with you on these fish things? That would have been much faster and I wouldn't have had to cut my hair!" Rosette suddenly burst out and yelled.

"Sorry, it can only carry one person." Sathella said serenely. She was amused about the look on the blonde's face.

Chrno watched the jewelfishes with interest. "I have never seen or heard about something like that before." He admitted.

"That's no surprise. There are no other jewel witches in neither the human nor the demonic country. Originally their origins are in Krefya. Usually they don't leave Krefya as well because they're afraid to burn on the pyre as a witch. But our mother fell in love with a young sailor who came to Krefya by accident. They married and he took her with him to the human grounds. Because our dear mother was a jewel witch we inherited her gift. Though we have to be careful with that." Sathella laughed ironically and flew a little bit higher so she didn't block the way to her sister. "Due to this bound between father and mother, our father is the only one with the permission to trade with Krefya. The people there don't like people from the human or demonic kingdom very much…"

Suddenly there was a loud call from the direction in which the coxswain and his assistant were.

"Uh, uh." The redhead took a deep breath. "I guess it's better for us to go now before the others see us. If they recognise us we're going to burn on the pyre. Not good." The jewel fish sank down. "Good bye then! We'll meet again at the port! And don't worry, Rosette! We'll find them soon!" Sathella and Florette waved at them and suddenly they vanished on the other side of the boat.

"Er, did you just see what I saw or was that just a dream?" Rosette asked. She was still in her condition of confusion.

"Jup, it was real." Chrno commented and scratched his head. "That came quite unexpected. But I'm happy that we've got some help at least. That's good."

The blonde nodded shortly and leaned with her back on the parapet. "And now?"

"Are you still not tired? It's already late. You should get yourself some rest. So try to sleep now." Chrno said good night and made his way downstairs.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Rosette shouted and yawned. Yeah, perhaps she could sleep now.

…

The next day a lot of clouds covered the sun. It wouldn't rain though. Rosette looked to the horizon. In only a few hours they would eventually be there. Finally. Then she was able to continue her search. And Chrno was happy to get off the ship as well. At the moment he did nothing else except for hanging over the parapet and complaining about the headache.

It was almost noon as the relief of land appeared at the horizon. Rosette cheered. Within the next four hours they arrived at their destination. Directly after they had landed at the port, Chrno jumped on the ground and hugged the next best tree. "Oh, mainland, I missed you so much!"

Rosette nearly lay on the ground laughing about the fact that a demon could behave like that. The way the tree looked like made it only funnier. It wasn't a normal tree. The girl had never seen something like that. It was a palm tree. The trunk was thin, but rough. The typical palm leaves were on the top. (AN: I really would have laughed if it was a cactus XDDD Then Chrno would be a needle-cushion by now XD)

Now Rosette realized how warm it was here. It was already very late autumn and here it seemed like summer. The air was thick and overload with moisture. The climate was everything else, but uncomfortable.

With the back of her hand the blonde brushed away some sweat drops on her forehead.

"Maybe we should have mentioned the hot weather before…" A female voice behind her said. Turning around Rosette saw that Sathella was already here. She wore a new thin dress and in her hand there was a big glass with a fruit cocktail.

"Yeah, you could have mentioned that before." Rosette ground her teeth. Why didn't she have such a nice cold cocktail? In the background Chrno still said how much he loved the mainland.

"Hi, Sathella." Obviously Chrno had finished hugging the plant. He felt better now that he wasn't on the ship anymore. "So, any plans how we should go on?"

"I have no idea. Oh, didn't that old pervie give us that damn riddle. It's not really helping." Rosette crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You have to leave the well-known grounds and you have to cross the thing which is necessary for life, but it's deadly in a bigger amount. – Good we have that point. Now to the next - You will find the Prince and the little girl at a place which is neither human, nor demonic, nor sacred. The apostles will awake that what's dead for a long time now. The master will test you as he is awake. Alone you will reach nothing. Only pure and brave hearts can resist him" The girl repeated the sentences the old man had told them.

"So, we have to find a place which is neither sacred nor human nor demonic." Chrno repeated once more. "That's the next thing."

Sathella looked at him confused. "Sorry I have no idea…"

"But I have perhaps." Florette joined them with her hands laced behind her back. "Demonic means that it has an evil aura. Dark places for example or places where devils used to live. Human is something casual. Like a house or a shop. Sacred is something related to our religion. Something related to Christianity, a church for example. But these people here are no Christians. They pray to Wodan and his companions. Thus the temple in which they pray to Wodan and their other Gods and Goddesses is not sacred. It's not human as well, because you can't compare it to the human culture. It's not demonic too because no demon ever lived here."

All others looked stunned at her. That made sense. Rosette's mood lightened up immensely. It shouldn't be difficult to find this temple, now should it? A temple was just like a church so there should be lots of them. Uh-uh. New problem. If there were so many of them, how should they find the right one? Rosette asked the same question to the others. One of them suggested buying a map with all temples. Another one suggested asking the people there if they knew something about it. Asking around was a problem though. The people there spoke another language again. Neither the Harvenheit sisters nor the other two teenagers could understand them. But in the end they had gotten the map. The map showed them the northern half of Krefya. There were lots of little dots on it. These dots marked the temples. One dot was bigger than the others. It symbolized the main temple of this area.

"Okay. New plan. Rosette and I take care of the temples on this half of the map and you two take care of the other half. If we don't find anything we're going to meet at this main temple in two days." Chrno made clear immediately.

"Okay, but how do you wanna go there so fast?" Sathella narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Florette and I can take our jewel creatures to go there in this short amount of time. But how will you go there?"

"Ah, that's now problem." Rosette motioned. "You see, Chrno's a –"

Before she could go on speaking Chrno had cut her off. "I'm an experienced traveller and I know all tricks to travel fast. It should be no problem for me to find something." Then he laughed nervously.

The older woman looked suspiciously at him. "Alright. If you say so." Then she fumbled something out of the small bag which hung around her waist. "Here you have two jewels. If you lose them, you'll be dead." She warned them and added: "You can call us with them if you find the right temple." Sathella said and handed them the two little stones.

"Alright then, I think it's time to find my brother!" Rosette cheered. She and Chrno said goodbye to their two helpers and they left the city into the right direction.

As soon as Sathella and Florette were gone, the blonde glared at the purple head.

"What? What have I done?" He asked confused.

"It isn't polite to cut me off like this." She taught him. "And why didn't you say them what you are?" Her voice got louder.

"Rosette, please. Not so loud. And that would have caused only more trouble. I prefer saying nothing about my origins to them, okay?"

A shrill call of an exotic bird was heard. As soon as they had left the town next the harbour the surroundings changed dramatically. The plants got higher and higher and the path was narrow. Moreover the seasons seemed to be crazy in this forest. On tree was full with blossoms while the other one just lost all its leaves. Every tree was in a different state. Furthermore the fruits looked strange as well and some other plants even bit… Others seemed to be tendrils, but in reality it was a big fat snake.

"Ah, great. I think now we're through nearly every landscape!" Chrno laughed ironically. "We've already had mountains, normal forests, moor land, fields and meadows, the sea and now the jungle. Did I miss something?"

"The desert." Rosette joined his game.

"Don't say that too loud. You don't know how the landscape looks like behind the jungle. And I'm not really eager to run through the desert." Chrno chuckled again. He decided that they were now far away enough from the town and shifted into his demon form. He held a hand to Rosette. "Come, I'll fly."

_End of Part V_

AN: Sorry, this chappie is kinda short. I hope the next one will be longer. Like always, please review^^


	32. VI Chapter 32

_Part VI:_

**Chapter 32:**

Chrno was flying with Rosette close over the top of the trees. They were approaching the first temple. Even from the distance they could see that the temple was abandoned. The building was over-grown with lots of brown and green plants. The entry was nearly blocked by that. Chrno landed in front of it and sniffed the air. Then he shook his head.

"I can't sense anyone here. I can't even feel an aura except for some little animals. It's useless to stay here for longer."

Disappointed Rosette nodded and screamed as Chrno took off in the air. Start and landing was always the worst… and the height… and the speed… But thanks to this speed they found the next temple only one hour afterwards. There it was the same. Abandoned and over-grown. So they continued their search. The third temple wasn't totally abandoned. In it there was an old woman. Fortunately she spoke English. She explained to them that nearly all temples were abandoned because the people lost faith in Wodan after he disappeared mysteriously. The woman was one of the few ones who remained at the temples. Once a long time ago she had been one of the priestesses here. But now her only job was it to take care of the traveller who passed by here. She also offered them to take a look in their future. Chrno wasn't very found of this clairvoyant stuff, but Rosette seemed to be pretty interested. The priestess sent Chrno out because the blonde's future was none of his business.

Curiously Rosette sat down on a fur coat which lay on the floor. The old woman went in the room next door. As she came out she wore clothes similar to the clothes these false valkyries had worn. That meant: A dark blue cloak with a hood and some special things on her head. She also wore a necklace with big wooden pearls. In her had the old woman had a little leather bag. Then she knelt down in front of Rosette and threw the content of the bag out. Nine wood sticks fell out. On every stick there was another rune. Now they lay messy on the ground. The woman reached out with her hand and pointed to one of the sticks. Then she followed the stick pattern with her index finger. Furthermore she mumbled some various stuff in her language.

"And? What's now?" Rosette asked and leaned down to take a closer look on the runes.

"I see how your life was until now. I see how your life is at the moment. I see how your life will be." The woman croaked. "To save the one who's precious to you, you have to leave the well-known grounds and you have to cross the thing which is necessary for life, but it's deadly in a bigger amount. You will find the Prince and the little girl at a place which is neither human, nor demonic, nor sacred. The apostles will awake that what's dead for a long time now. The master will test you as he is awake. Alone you will reach nothing. Only pure and brave hearts can resist him."

Surprised the girl looked at the witch. "These are exactly the same words another man told me."

"I know. And I can tell you that you're on the right way. You will find you destination before the night comes tomorrow. But take care. Nothing's how it seems. You have to find your true self to survive that. It sleeps deep within you. You just have to wake up. But don't worry. I see as well that you will arrive at home."

"Phew." Rosette sighed and a big stone fell from her heart.

"Moment, child. I said you will arrive at home. I didn't say that you will arrive there alive or with the one you wanted to protect."

"What?" Rosette asked frightened.

"I can't see in the future if you will get hurt or if your companions will live. But something between you and another certain person will dramatically change. I can't tell if this change will be good or not. But in any case it will cause some problems at first. But in the end it will save them all. When you arrive at home you are not allowed to rest. You have to fight to save your home." The woman lowered her voice more and more. Then she came to the last rune. Her eyes widened and her tone of her voice rose immensely. "YOU WEAR THE MARKS OF WHOM WHO DEFEATED WODON, THE GOD OF ALL! YOU WEAR THE MARKS OF HIS MURDERER! GET OUT OF THIS PLACE! NOW!" She shrieked like she was terrified.

Rosette jumped to her feet and took some steps backwards. The door was opened and Chrno peeked inside. "Is something wrong? I heard someone scream."

"GET OUT! GET OUT!" The valkyrie shrieked again.

The blonde nodded and disappeared through the door. "I think it would be better to go on with the search now." She told him with a shaking voice.

"Alright. However you want." Chrno said and took off again.

Until the night came they had checked one more temple. As well without success. They decided to find a place to rest in the night half-way to the next temple. Because there weren't any villages or towns around Chrno landed in the thick forest. He was happy that he had found a place which wasn't covered with trees and bushed. Now he was also in his human form. The big wings would only take to much space.

Within minutes they had selected enough wood to make a fire. The fire was nice warm. After the sun had gone down the temperatures had fallen rapidly and it was cold now.

After eating her supper Rosette said good night and lay down. Chrno sat down next to her feet.

Even though she was really tired she couldn't fall asleep. The strange sound of strange animals didn't let her rest. In addition to that she cursed herself for not taking a blanket or warmer clothes with her. Sure, during the day the heat was unbearable, but the cold in the night was terrible as well. She shivered a little and curled together.

She was also too tired to say thanks you or to open her eyes as Chrno put a blanket over her. At least he had been smart enough to think of taking that with them. Rosette wondered what material it was made off. It was so nice warm. The blonde curled in her new blanket and listened to the calming rhythm of the pulse. Oh my, now she must be crazy… Thanking that the blanket had a pulse. Pfff. But there was it again. She had to concentrate on it to feel it well enough. Wondering about that opened her eyes and leaned on her elbows.

"Can't sleep again, I guess. Hm?" Chrno asked her.

Rosette starred at him. He was sitting just right next to her feet. One knee pulled to his chest while his head rested on his arm which leaned on the knee. The camp fire which was about to go out lighted him from the right. He was also in his devil form using his left wing as a cloak. Rosette blushed as she realized how handsome he looked in this light.

"Is something?" He asked her as she continued staring at him.

"Ehm. No. Everything's okay. I… I was just thinking of something else." She laughed nervously and turned her face away. Then she saw that it wasn't a blanket that covered her, but his right wings. She blushed only more and sat up straight. He removed his wing from her and folded it on his back.

"I really must be lacking of sleep if I continue like this." She sighed and hugged her knees.

"Hmpf. Ask me. I'm only sleeping two times a week, sometimes even less." He chuckled and watched her with his golden eyes.

"Yeah, but you're demon and not a human." She countered.

"No one ever asked me if I wanted to be a demon…" He turned his face away from her and gazed at the flames.

"What's that now supposed to mean?"

"The life of a demon is different than a human's. A human's life is much more peaceful and calm. All the time I was travelling around I always envied the luck of the human families. They had everything they needed. And no one wanted to take it away from them. They had everything… a farm with a good harvest and a lovely family. It will never be like that in the demonic kingdom. Sure they have farms and families too. But there will always be someone who disturbs the peace." He explained to her and glanced at her sadly. "You are lucky to have a family who cares for you. Your father, your mother and your brother. At the moment you and Aion are the only ones I have. Aion can defend himself. But I want to protect you and therefore I'm helping you here." He ended his talk and waited for Rosette to talk.

She nodded silently. "Thank you, Chrno."

Chrno smiled lightly at her and turned to the flames again.

"But how will you find my brother?" The blonde asked suddenly.

"With the scent of cause." The purple haired demon answered directly.

"And where do you know his scent from?" Rosette asked confused.

"He's your brother, my dear." Chrno frowned. "He just smells similar to you."

"Oh yeah? And what's my scent like?" She said in a teasing manner and grinned. "Come on now. Tell me." Before she knew what happened Chrno rushed to her from behind. In the same he brushed her blonde her away and sniffed at her neck. The girl squeaked and giggled because it tickled.

"Chrno, stop it!" She giggled and slapped him softly on the arm.

Chrno breathed in her beautiful scent. Only by smelling he could feel himself relax. It just had such a strong calming power over him…

"-no? Chrno?"

Quickly he brought himself back to reality.

"Hey, not falling asleep there, will ya!" Rosette complained and giggled again as his breath tickled her.

"Honey." He said and backed of a little.

"What? Did you just call me _honey_?" She asked him and looked as if she was about to smack him on his head.

"What? Oh no. But you wanted to know what you scent is like." He explained quickly. "It's like honey and some wild flowers. In addition to that there's the typical human scent and the female hormones… But still there's one part of your scent that I don't really know what it is. The first time I smelled it was when the stigmata appeared" He sniffed one last time. "Moreover you used either lavender soap or shampoo. Smells good."

"Thanks…" She said blushing and scratched her upper arm. She blushed harder as his strong arms embraced her from behind. "Ah, C-Chrno, what are you doing?" She stuttered and tried to pull his arm away.

"Just a minute please… I need to hug someone and you're the only one with whom I can do that…" Chrno whispered and rested his head on her shoulder. He closed his eyes.

"Sure, because nobody else except for me and you are here." The blonde protested and tried to pull his other arm away.

"No. I have nobody else in the world who's close enough to me so I could dare that…" Chrno's voice was low and sad.

Rosette stopped pulling on his arms. "And what's with your family? For example your mother?" She wanted to know.

Chrno took a deep breath. "She died when I was thirteen. Since then I had nobody to hug. So please, just let me rest like this for a minute or two…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know…" The girl apologized. Chrno gave her a short nod and closed his eyes again.

He took again a deep breath and smelled her beautiful hypnotizing scent. It was nearly irresistible. But he also felt warmth rising in his heart. He knew that he liked her, but perhaps it was even more. If it was or not, he didn't know.

The only thing he knew was that it would be dangerous when they had found Joshua and Azmaria and that he was there to protect Rosette from those dangers. He would never ever let someone or something harm her.

Well, anyways the 'one or two minutes' expanded to some minutes more. Chrno felt Rosette's calm rhythmical breath and found out that she had fallen asleep. Carefully he put her down and covered her with his wing again.

**AN**: Awww, some kitschy romance there XD Please review, so I know how the chapter was.


	33. VI Chapter 33

**A****N: **Thanks for the nice comments^^

**Chapter 33:**

„Hm…. I don't wanna get up, Joshua… Let me sleep." Rosette muttered and crept under the blanket. Then her shoulder was shaken again. "I told ya to let me sleep." The blonde grumbled again, but this time angrier. After the third time she was shaken she shot up, smacked him on his head and yelled: "Joshua! What don't you understand at the sentence 'Let me sl- oh, oh, OH! Oh, sorry" She laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head. "That was just a reflex…Sorry, Chrno…"

The purple haired demon sat next to her and rubbed the lump on his head. "You have a really hard fist, you know that?" He complained and got on his feet.

"I already told you that I'm sorry." Rosette yawned and stretched her arms. Out of the blue there was a strange sound. The girl laughed nervously and held her stomach. "I'm hungry! Where's the food?"

Chrno shook his head about the blonde's huge appetite. Hadn't she eaten a whole mountain of food just yesterday evening? Honestly. If he had eaten the same amount she had eaten yesterday, he wouldn't need anything more for the next two and a half day…

"You ate everything already yesterday. But there're some fruits you can eat." He pointed behind him. Yesterday evening in the dawn they hadn't even noticed that they camped directly next to a tree and another bush full of fruits.

"Oh, yummy, yummy." Rosette cheered and looked for the best fruit.

Some time later they were in the air again, looking for the next temple. The temples they found were all abandoned and over-grown. In none of them Chrno could feel or sense any presence. At least it was like this until they reached the seventh temple for today. It was placed on the top of a little mountain. Chrno landed in some distance to it and narrowed his eyes.

"Bingo." He said. The atmosphere was overwhelming here. The demon could feel a great power hanging over the building. In addition to that he could see a glimpse of the astral line swirling around the building. He sniffed the air. Although they were deep in the forest, there was no scent of a plant around the temple. Furthermore there weren't even plants closer than closer three meters to the building. Those which had been were all dead now.

Chrno sniffed the air again and found a familiar scent. The scent was old though and it was difficult to recognize it at all.

"Are you really sure that, we're right here?" Rosette asked stained and starred at the front door.

"Yes. Your brother and your other friend are here." Chrno said confident. "Let's call Sathella and Florette."

Rosette took the jewels out of her pocket. And now they had a new problem. The sisters hadn't mentioned how to use the jewels.

Chrno came over and leaned over the jewels in Rosette's hand to have a closer look on them. He stood up straight again and shrugged his shoulders.

"Great. Like always all bad luck is with us." The girl growled.

"Well, you could have asked how to use it, Rozetta."

"Ah, yeah? Now it's my fault? You could have asked as well!" She snapped back.

A little argument started. All of a sudden they heard a voice and stunned they looked around.

"In the jewel, you dolts!" The voice shouted again.

Surprise they looked in the jewel. In it there was a tiny picture which showed Sathella.

"So, you found the right one?" She asked.

Still stunned the other two teenagers nodded.

"Then, care to explain to me where it is?" The redhead asked because no one said something.

"Oh yeah." Chrno snapped out of his surprise and told her where the jewel witches could find the temple. Sathella thanked them and nodded before the little picture disappeared.

"Good. Now let's go inside to check it." Rosette told Chrno. She was already on her way to the entry. The entry was a big wooden double winged door. It looked heavy, but it wasn't. The blonde could push it open with only one hand. Inside it was dark.

Chrno held her back on her arm. "I should go first. Just in case something happens."

Rosette pushed his hand away. "Nonsense. I can take care of myself." She entered the dark corridor. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she found herself next to Chrno who just took a torch from the wall. With a tiny movement of his finger he lightened the torch.

He looked around. Something was definitely wrong here. He felt this heavy pressure on him. With Rosette he followed the corridor. He didn't come far though. Suddenly a real pain rushed through his whole body. He dropped the torch and leaned against the way.

"Chrno! What's wrong?" Rosette screamed next to him and put the torch in a holder on the wall. She hoped that the fire wouldn't go out. Then they would be in total darkness. Meanwhile Chrno fell on his knees and pressed his hands on his forehead. He also began to change back in his human form.

Chrno began to panic. What the hell was wrong here? The pressure on his chest rose constantly. It made it nearly impossible to breath and his heart seemed like it would stop in every moment. His view was blurred. He wasn't able to move. His whole body refused to. The pain which shot through his veins was too much.

Next to him he heard his friend scream, asking him what was wrong.

"Oh my God! He's choking!" Rosette thought panicked. Not knowing what to do, she pulled on his arm. With all her strength she pulled him up on his feet again and supported him so he could stand. Out of her panic she yelled at him to walk or too move at least. He did, but only slowly.

Finally she stumbled out of the building with him. She let him lay down on the grass. Panting she sat down next to him.

He lay on his back now and breathed fast and deeply like he had just run a marathon or such.

"Oh, crap." He ran his hand through his purple hair after he calmed down again. Then he closed his eyes and waited until his view wasn't blurred anymore.

"Chrno! What was that?" Rosette cried next to him and he turned to her.

"Astral deficit." He answered her weary. "A devil's body is different from a humans, Rozetto." Chrno told her. "Do you know what the astral line is, Rozetta?" He asked her and folded his hands on his stomach.

"The life line, isn't it? You told be a little bit about that when we were kids." She answered him unsure what was coming next.

He gave her a short nod. "Exactly. It's the source of all life energy. And when a human is born he or she gets a special amount of this life energy. As soon as the all energy is used the human dies. It's the same with normal animals. But not with plants. Plants drew their astral energy out of the water and the sun. Therefore the flowers die after a short time when you pick them. Anyways, unlike humans or animals, demons don't have their own astral either. Therefore they have their horns. The horns are an organ to collect astral directly from the astral line. If the demon loses his horns or if the horns can't connect with the astral line… well, you just saw what happens. I guess they have built a special barrier around in the temple which keeps all the astral outside. I have no chance to get the needed astral in there. And if I don't get it I'll die…" He ended his talk.

Rosette gasped. "B-but that's terrible! What shall we do now that you can't enter the building?" She asked desperate.

"I guess you have to go there alone." He told her and massaged his temples.

"What? B-but I-I can't!" If they (whoever they were) were able to knock Chrno out just like this, then what would they do with her? Fear was rising within her. "Can't you get you astral from another source?" She asked hopefully.

"No, that's not pos- Wait!" Chrno sat straight up. "You're right. Perhaps there is. Give me the pocket watch!" He held his hand out and waited until she had taken it off.

"But what do you want with it?" She wanted to know.

Chrno asked her if she remembered the barrier around herself to the time that the sirens had wanted to kill her. She gave a short nod. The purple head told her that he had made this barrier by leading astral in the pocket watch. So the pocket watch had to be able to either conduct astral energy or even to store it. Perhaps that was because the dial was made of a magical dragon scale…

Chrno played with the golden wheel on the pocket watch. He changed back into his demon shape and collected astral. Then he tried to put it in the watch. The hands above the dial began to rotate backwards until they showed twelve o'clock sharp. Obviously that was the limit the watch could store. It was not really much astral, but it was enough for Chrno to survive a day. Though he had to stay in his human form which needed less astral…

He handed it over to Rosette who took it on again. The pocket watch ticked loudly.

"So, let's give it a try." Chrno said and stood up. They walked to the entrance and stepped in. The devil had to concentrate on the astral in the watch. But it worked. This time the terrible pressure didn't come.

Relieved he took a deep breath.

"Anything alright?" Rosette asked him worried.

"Yes." Chrno replied her shortly. He picked up the torch from the wall and went ahead. Then they saw some light coming around the corner. Approaching they found out that the light come from a corridor which was lightened by some chandeliers on the wall.

"At least we know now that we're not alone…" Rosette muttered.

They followed the way and they arrived in a big hall. The hall was round and with lots of doors. Two staircases led up into the next floor. All in all there were four storeys and the basement.

Rosette wondered what to do now.

Suddenly there was a loud growl. Then there was a second. This time it sounded more then a giggle.

"How nice that you're there." A croaking voice said. "So we don't have to kidnap you, Magdalene." The voice continued. It was impossible to hear if it was male or female.

"What? Where are you?" Chrno yelled back and tried to localize where it had come from.

Azmaria and Joshua were still kept in the dungeon. The climate was hot in here and all kids were trying to move as less as possible. Well, at least Sheda was as hyper as ever.

Joshua stretched his arms. It had been a long time now that the shape shifters had come and brought them to that creepy room and which they had to call the astral energy. That was always exhausting and he feared that it would never end. Fortunately they had some time to recover until these persons came to take them again to the room. And the last cell in the dungeon, the seventh, was still free. But the kidnapper had said that it would soon be filled too.

Moreover the apostles had found out that they weren't the only ones captured here. They had heard screams from other dungeons. One time they had even seen what happened to the others who weren't apostles. It had been terrible. At first they all had been humans. Then they had been cabled by these shape shifters. At last they began to transform into monster. They became aggressive devils without a mind.

Azmaria shivered at the thought of them. She would never forget that.

Suddenly the door creaked loudly and all apostles sat up straight to watch it.

One of their kidnapper stepped in. It was a man with a dark cloak and the hood over his head. He said something which wasn't understandable. Then he said something which was understandable.

"The last one just arrived. You will soon be all together. The last task awaits us. And then you will return the life your God robbed so many centuries ago!" He said with a mysterious voice and held up his arms. "Be prepared for that what's coming!" The man snarled at the apostles and made them wince. Then he spun around on his heel and left again. The door was slammed behind him.

"Oh, my gosh! What do you think he meant?" One of the other apostle girls, Lydia said. She clasped her hand in front of her mouth.

"Will we now end as monsters as well?" Nathan, the youngest boy, said.

"No, don't worry. We won't and as monsters." Jack tried to cam him down. He didn't sound very confident though. "We're the apostles. I think our purpose is something else."

"But I'm scared!" Azmaria cried. "What if they kill us?" She wailed.

"Don't worry. We'll find a way to escape this time I'm sure!" Joshua said. He didn't sound more confident than Jack.

Suddenly they heard a loud noise, screams snarls and growls from outside. As anything was quiet again, the lock of the door creaked.

"Oh no! What if they're going to take us now in the room again?" The apostle Sarah wailed.

They heard a click from the door. It signalized that the lock was open now. Slowly the door was opened and a boy with a cap peeked inside.

"Joshua! Azmaria! Finally I found you!"

**AN:** Holy crap. I totally forgot to writing about Joshua and Azmaria in last uhm at least ten chappies… And I forgot Aion too… hm… Alright, Joshua and Asu are here… And about Aion… I don't really know what to write about him. I guess he's still arguing with the demon senate XD


	34. VI Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**: (wow, already that far)

„Joshua! Azmaria!" The strange boy called them and slipped in the room. Quietly he closed the door behind his back.

Shocked the apostles looked at him.

"W-where do you know our names from?" Joshua asked surprised and got on his feet.

The boy stopped in his steps. He balled his hands to fists and seemed annoyed. "Come forward and I'll tell you." He said politely and stepped to the iron bars to Joshua's cell.

Joshua gulped, but did as he was told. The next thing he felt was a pain on his head and a noogie attack through the iron bars.

"How can you dare it not to recognize your own sister, Joshua!" The 'boy' hissed and released him.

"Ro-Rosette?" Joshua stumbled backwards.

"What? Rosette?" Azmaria shrieked and ran to the door of her cell.

"Jup. The one and only." Rosette grinned widely. She bowed and took the cap of, so her hair fell down on her shoulders.

"But how did you get here? I guess there're lots of guards and shape shifters in here!" Jack noticed.

"Long story. I'll tell you anything when we're outta here." The blonde girl said and found the key for the cells on a hook at the wall. She stopped shortly in her movement and thought.

_Flashback_

"What? Where are you?" Chrno yelled back and tried to localize where the voice had come from. Ready to fight he drew his white bladed sword.

A movement was seen in the shadow of a doorway to their right. A person stepped out of it.

"Finally you have come, Magdalene… the last apostle." The person began to smirk. It was a man. His clothes were all dark and his short brown-red hair was messy. On his belt there was a sword as well. He drew it and pointed with it on Chrno.

"But you are not welcome here." He snarled.

The purple haired demon bared his fangs. But he was aware that he didn't change into his demon form accidentally. Protectively he pushed Rosette behind him. Suddenly two more armed persons stepped out from the other doorways.

"Rosette. As soon as you've the possibility you go and look for your brother and Azmaria. I'll take care of them." Chrno whispered to her.

"Are you sure that-" He saw that she hesitated to leave.

"Yes." He hissed angrily.

Then the first one attacked. Chrno blocked his strike easily and pushed him off. The attacker fell backwards and cursed. Chrno heard a dump BLONG behind him and looked around.

Rosette had used the torch as a club and beat a fourth one to the ground.

"I guess I'm not as helpless as you thought. Hu?" Rosette grinned at him.

Chrno crossed the blades again with the others. "No. And I'm pretty happy about that." He said between the strikes.

Suddenly there were more persons in the room. Some of them didn't look human. Chrno hissed to Rosette that they were no demons, they were shape changer. He could smell that. Though they didn't attack them. They just blocked the way outside. The four attackers from earlier joined them.

Rosette and Chrno took some steps backwards. They were too many. In case they would attack Chrno had no chance against them and Rosette as well.

Rosette hit the wall with her back. The girl groped blindly for the next door and found it. Fortunately it wasn't locked. She opened it and pulled Chrno inside. Behind this door there was another corridor. They ran along it. Chrno heard their pursuers opening the door in order to follow them.

"Hurry up!" He told Rosette.

In the corridor there were lots of doors. Perhaps they could shake their pursuers off by going through one of these doors. They chose the door by chance. The teenager found themselves in a very big room. There were seven chairs in it which were placed in a circle. Plus there were lots of cables and some strange looking devices.

Chrno shuddered. He could feel all the emotions which were connected to this room. It was mostly fear, pain, sadness. The devil felt terrible in here. Rosette didn't feel on of these emotions, but her instincts told her as well that it was not comfortable in here. "Let's get out here please!" She said and pointed to one of two doors on the opposite side of the room.

"Wait, please!" Chrno stopped abruptly. He hurried to the middle of the chair circle and sniffed the air.

"Joshua was here. He can't be far away anymore." He said confident and felt Rosette's mood lighten up. "I guess it's not far away behind one of these doors." Within a second he was next to Rosette and they hurried to the left door. They pulled it open and closed it quickly behind them. Taking a deep breath they turned around. Rosette was the first to scream. There were only two torches on each side of the door. The rest looked like a dark dungeon. A growl and a loud threatening bark were heard. Chains clinked as well. Suddenly a huge werewolf like thing jumped out of the dark and snarled. Two chains on its feet kept it away from tearing the two teenagers apart.

Rosette screamed more and opened the door. Just as they left the dark dungeon the chains gave way and ribbed. Chrno and Rosette slammed the door right into its face. The devil cursed his human form and pressed the door shut with his back.

"You go and find Joshua. I'll take care of our little friend there." He pressed through his lips and motioned with his head to the other door.

Suddenly he was pushed away and stumbled forward. The door slammed open and the head of this monster thing peeked out with bared fangs.

Rosette shrieked and pulled Chrno out of the way. Just in time to avoid getting hit by the monster's claw.

Chrno pushed Rosette to the door and pointed with his sword on the monster-wolf. He aimed shortly and hit it on its shoulder. It growled loudly and focused on the young man in front of it.

Chrno ran away from Rosette. The wolf was following him.

"Now go and free the others! I'll be okay!" He called over his shoulder before she disappeared through the door they had come from.

Rosette realized that it was too late to protest and balled her hands to fists. It really annoyed her that he was always in danger because of her. She had a bad conscience because of that. Then she remembered the door behind her. She took a deep breath and touched the handle. The door creaked. The blonde almost awaited a second monster. So she was more careful this time. She peeked inside shortly.

"Joshua! Azmaria!" She called relieved. She had never been so happy to see them. Joshua didn't recognize her at first and that made her angry. But then she remembered that she still wore the man's clothes. Nevertheless she gave him a noogie attack through the iron bars of the dungeon he was in.

_Flashback ends_

Rosette looked around. Except for Joshua and Asu there were four other kids staring at her with wide eyes and one empty cell. Somehow she had to open the damn cells. She looked around and found a ring with lots of keys on it. Shocked she had to realize that none of it fit into the locks of the cells.

"They have the key on their belts. It's not here. I don't know what these keys are for." The boy called Jack said with a sad smile.

"What?" Rosette said shocked. Now she had finally found her brother, she wasn't able to free him. She felt extremely helpless now. It was the feeling she hated the most. She started to look for something else to open the damn locks. Though she didn't find anything. Desperately she put her hands into the pockets of her trousers. There her fingers hit something. It felt like metal. Stunned she pulled the object out. It was the key she had gotten from the Elder. God, she had totally forgotten that it was there. She shook her head and smiled about her own naivety. She just thought that maybe this key would fit. But that was nearly impossible. Nevertheless she gave it try. To her surprise the lock clicked loudly.

Rosette widened her eyes. It was unbelievable. But she was happy about it at the same time. The girl opened the door and hugged her brother tightly. He had gotten thinner…

Then she opened the other cells. Immediately the apostles stepped out. They only wanted to get out, to get out of this damn building and to go home.

"Let's go now. We've to find Chrno and then we're getting outta here." Rosette told them and went to the door. She felt something pull on her trousers and looked down. It was the smallest of the girls. She had short chocolate brown hair and big eyes.

"_Chrno? Ubi est Chrno?_" (Translation: "Where is Chrno?" Again remember that the demonic language is Latin) She asked with her shrill child voice. Stunned Rosette stared down to hear. Why did she speak Latin? Was that little kid a demon?

"She doesn't understand us. I don't know what language she speaks." Sarah told Rosette. But the blonde ignored her.

She knelt down next to the demon kid and patted her head. She switched to the demon language as well. "He's not far away. Do you know him?" She asked curious.

The little girl's eyes widened. "Your accent is funny" She giggled. "And he's my cousin. My daddy is his mommy's brother." She said and grinned.

"Oh. Uhm, okay… then let's go and find him." Rosette told her and stood up again.

"Rosette, where did you learn how to-"

"Not now. I said I'll tell you everything when we're out here." The blonde cut the albino girl off. "And do me the favour and don't open the doors before knowing what's behind it… There might be monsters." She added.

"We know. They use some special venom to transform normal humans into devils and monsters. We saw it one time…" Nathan said lowly. "There are lot's of them…"

"you mean this werewolf thing wasn't the only one? Oh great… As if we hadn't enough problems…" Rosette sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Anyways, sitting here and waiting until someone comes and takes us out is not the best. So come on and move you butts."

Chrno escaped through the door and paid attention that the gigantic wolf followed him. The most important thing was that it was away from Rosette, so her way to her brother was free. To his surprise the pursuers from earlier didn't show up again. The wolf growled and Chrno looked over his shoulder. It was coming closer. Chrno speeded up and turned around to take another way. There he saw one of the cloaked persons. As the person saw him he let out a hiss and opened a heavy door before disappearing in another one.

"Hey!" Chrno called angrily. Suddenly a second monster appeared through the now open door.

This time it wasn't a gigantic wolf. This one looked pretty deformed and had wings. Its skin was dark and had lumps.

Then Chrno realized the scent. That surprised him. The scent was strange. He had expected the creatures to be very low ranking devil who had been kept there. But they weren't real devils… They were something else… It smelled like a mixture between human and devil. Half-devils? But how could that be?

Sliding over the ground he came to stop in front of the new monster. He cursed his damn bad luck and watched the monsters surround him.

"And today of all days I can't use my demonic form!" He cursed and bared his fangs to the two dark creatures. Suddenly a wall crashed. The air was full with dust and you couldn't see your own hand in front of you. Some growls and scratches were heard. As the dust lowered he could see a gigantic white lion fighting with the wolf. Another tall animal thought with the second monster.

A woman coughed.

"My, my… It's so dirty here. And I just washed my new dress!" She complained and stepped out of the dust while she brushed some dirt of her skirt.

"Phew. Hi, Sathella, Florette. You had just the right timing." Chrno told them relieved.

"Sure we have. We have always." Florette said and climbed over a broken brick from the wall. She gave some commands to her jewel creature and the said one beat the monster. Sathella did the same and her creature just killed the big wolfy.

"So. That's done. Where's Rosette? Did you find the others?" Sathella wanted to know and stepped over to Chrno who lowered his sword.

"Rosette's just looking for them. We got separated by the wolf there." Chrno nodded to the dead wolf. It just burst into dust. "I hope she's okay…" He added.

Rosette opened the door and together with the other six people she stepped into the big room with the chairs. Shocked she saw at least twenty cloaked men and women with armament standing around the room. They blocked the way out.

"Catch the apostles. It's time to return the life their God has taken away…"

**AN:** Oh, gosh… I had really problem writing this… I hope it wasn't too confusing. I didn't know how to express what I wanted to say right… I'm still not a native English speaker, you know…

For all rp-friends: chrnocrusaderp. probpards. com (without spaces plz)


	35. VI Chapter 35

**Chapter 35:**

Shocked Chrno and the two Harvenheit sisters saw that more of the unnatural monster creatures were approaching. They all looked different. But none of them looked complete. There seemed to be missing something.

Chrno guessed that it was some kind of sick experiment. They tried to transform animals and humans into devils. He couldn't explain the reason for that and he wasn't sure if he even _wanted_ to know why they created these unfinished monsters. Fortunately they hadn't found out how to create the perfect demon until now. All of these devils had visible weak points. That was good. So it would be easier to defeat them.

The three teenagers agreed that everyone would take care of a special amount of monsters. Then they took off to fight their way through.

The demons were strong, but they were clumsy in their movements that made it easy to defeat them. After some time Chrno stopped panting and wiped away some sweat on his forehead wit his sleeve.

"Hey, little cutie!" Sathella called him and grinned at Chrno's annoyed look. "We can take care of those. You'll go now and find our little majesties and their friend, will ya? I've the feeling that there's something bad coming…"

"I have that feeling too…" Florette admitted. "But I mean it literary... I feel strange. Something has changed here… Something's in the atmosphere…" She ground her teeth and her grip around the staff she used to fight with tightened. Her weapon was a white staff made of jewellery. It had sharp blades on its ends. The blades were already bloody from the fight.

Chrno looked at her and expanded his senses. There, he could feel it too… It was just like all energy was drawn in one single direction. That was definitely not good. He gave a nod. "And you're sure that you can handle this?" He asked to be sure.

"Yes, yes! It's not the first time we're fighting and now go!" Sathella urged and commanded something to her lion.

Chrno spun around and ran off. He followed his feelings. The closer he came the stronger was the feeling that the energy was drawn to a special room. Well, this special room was the room he had left Rosette in. Great. He scolded himself for leaving her alone. He knew best that she was a danger magnet, damnit! How could he have been so stupid and leave her alone? Why?

Before Rosette had known what happened, the cloaked persons had caught them and chained them on the chair. No matter how much the blonde girl had struggled, kicked, beaten, even bitten, it was all useless against the strong grips of her capturer. And then she was chained to the chair and there it was useless to struggle against the chains. She screamed and yelled at the cloaked persons, but that was useless anyways.

"Great. Now we have all seven apostles…" The leader of the cloaked group smirked evilly.

Joshua's eyes shot to Rosette. "What?" He asked weary. "Rosette's one of us too? That can't be…" He whispered. The boy knew what happened to the apostles in this room. He absolutely didn't want that to happen to Rosette. It was bad enough that Azmaria and he had been here. But now Rosette was to be tortured too… oh no…

Suddenly Chrno gasped and fell on his knees. That power… it was too much… He felt a huge amount of energy. As if that wasn't enough, he felt a new presence… a new powerful presence. His hair bristled up. He took some deep breaths as he began to feel a certain pressure again. With his mind he reached out to the pocket watch (remember, he took the pocket watch earlier) to take more astral. For an unknown reason he had problems with doing so. Finally he had enough again. He pushed him upon his feet and started running again. Directly in front of the door he stopped. The feeling of a foreign power was now enormous. He pushed the door open and froze at the sight. No… that couldn't be…

In the middle of the chair circle was a huge pillar of blue-green light. The people who were chained on the chairs screamed as white fluffy wings appeared on their backs. Terrified Chrno saw Rosette on one of the chairs as well. The scars of the stigmata broke and began to bleed once more. In addition to that new stigmata appeared on her feet.

To the same time the ground began to move like there was an earthquake.

Shocked he recognized some other people he had seen before. He saw Joshua and he saw Azmaria. He gaze went to another little girl. He gasped. What was Sheda doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be safe at home? The whole thing seemed to be more complicated than it looked like at the beginning…

The cloaked persons stood around the room and were muttering something in chorus. The apostles screamed more and a dark male voice laughed. The laughter was suppressing and really creepy.

The cloaked ones fell on their knees and bowed down.

"Our God Wodan has returned to life! Worship him and he will bring Ragnarök over the human kind!" The leader said and bent down.

"Holy crap…" Chrno whispered. Unable to move he watched the scene with an open mouth.

Suddenly there was a loud CRACK as the chains around Rosette's hands and feet broke. She rose up in the air as her wings spread out to full size. Her clothes had changed all of a sudden as well. Now she wore a bright white long dress. The red blood from the stigmata made a great contrast to it.

The people in the room except for the crying apostles gasped.

"Take her back on the chair again!" The leader hissed to his companions.

"I warned ya that she's strong… that she's dangerous! But no! You didn't listen to me!" The woman next to the leader snarled.

"Shut your mouth!" The leader yelled back.

"We don't get her! The blood is burning us!" The two who tried to pull Rosette down shouted.

"Then kill her! We have enough astral anyway!" The leader shouted. Out of the blue his eyes widened. With his fingers he clutched the sword which stuck out of his stomach. He moaned and looked over his shoulder. Terrified he met the devil's cold glowing eyes.

"_Nobody touches her. Understand? NOBODY!_" Chrno snarled furiously. He drew his sword out of the leader's torso and decapitated him in one flowing motion. Dark smoke swirled around him. And he began to change. With all his might he kept himself from doing so. He had to save astral. He didn't have much after all.

His other enemies shouted something and began to attack. With one single wink of his finger he froze their time. He knew that that needed a lot of astral as well, but it was faster than killing them all with the sword. He let his sword drop and breathed in and out deeply until his heartbeat calmed down. He felt his muscles relax and hurried over to the apostles. They had stopped screaming now. Some of them were unconscious. Chrno caught Rosette just in time before she fell down on the ground. He put her softly down and hurried to the other chairs. There the purple haired devil unchained the others. Those who were still awake, that meant Azmaria, Sarah, Nathan and Sheda, should help bringing Joshua, Jack and Rosette outside. Chrno greeted Sheda shortly and asked her if she was okay. The little girl was really happy to see someone of her kind again after such a long time. She purred loudly as she heard Chrno purr to calm her down. Then the older devil stepped over to Rosette again and took her in his arms. He had to pay attention that he didn't touch the blood though.

Suddenly Sathella and Florette burst in the room too. They stopped midstep. "Oh my God. What happened here?" One of the sisters screamed as she saw the scenario. Half of the kids unconscious, all with wings and one bleeding. Oh, not to forget the frozen enemies.

"At first we get out. Then we explain." Azmaria said as she tried to lift Joshua with Sarah's help.

Alertly Sathella and Florette come over to help with the sleeping apostles. They put them on the back of their jewel creatures. They brought them out of the room. Shocked all of them had to see that the exit was blocked by a huge rock. It had to be fallen down as there was the little earthquake earlier.

Sathella pressed her lips together and announced that they had to find another exit. They turned around and tried some other ways and doors. The conscious apostles slowly began to wake up. Jack was the first to. Then Joshua and Rosette. The others explained to them what was going on. Some time later the wings on the apostles' backs began to disappear as well. Only Rosette's stayed for an unknown reason. Plus she still wore the white dress.

Suddenly there was a second earthquake. It wasn't as strong as the last one.

The teenager decided to move faster. They entered a new huge hall. It had some staircases and many doors. There was also a little balcony. A silhouette appeared on that balcony. It was one of the cloaked persons. He had been able to escape. The person laughed gloatingly.

"You may have killed my companions." He said. "But you will die for this. Especially you, Magdalene girl!" He snarled and gave the words 'Magdalene girl' a disgusted pronunciation. "You and your damn stigmata powers are the reason, that my beloved God is banned from this earth again. If you weren't the one wearing stigmata he would be alive by now!" He yelled angrily. Next to him there hung a robe from the ceiling. He griped it. "As soon as I pull on this robe our demon creations are freed. They will kill you, Magdalene. Your scent is attracting all demons. It's telling them 'kill me'." He smirked. "And you other guys should pay attention too. The virus with which these pathetic creations were made to demons with is transmitted by wounds. It'll turn into one of them to." He roared laughing.

"What?" They all shouted.

"Wait!" Rosette called. "At first we want to know why you did this all!"

The cloaked man snarled again, but then smirked. "Alright. At least you can die without questions then." (AN: Now's the part where every evil explains their evil plan XD)

He began to tell them lots of confusing stuff about history, various gods and lots of other stuff. At the end nobody knew what was going one.

"Woah, woah woah. Stop, stop, stop." Rosette cut him off. He wanted to tell more but she didn't let him. So she continued speaking. "Let me summarize this again. You say that the humans and the shape shifters lived in common on Krefya a long time ago while the devil owned the other continent. Then suddenly the humans' God killed your main God Wodan. Because of this all humans got banned and they had to flee over the sea. Since then no human beings except for those with a special permission has been allowed to enter Krefya. The humans looked for land and found it as said across the ocean. The war of change started in which the humans robbed some land from the demons. Until now the situation calmed down again between the three parties. But then a new war between demonic and human kingdom is coming. You shape shifters took the advantage and promoted it by sending some of your shape shifters out to kidnap me. Then you blamed the demons for doing so. That shall increase the humans' hate towards the demons and it should make the war begin faster… During this war the devil are supposed to weaken the humans. Meanwhile the shape shifters collect the gifted people, in other words the apostles, in order to bring Wodan back to life with the astral energy. After this happened Wodan shall bring Ragnarök aka end of the world over the human species. Unfortunately the ceremony to awake him didn't go according to plan because I have some power. And I don't even know that I have these powers… Anyways, now you're mad at me and set your faked demons on me… Did I forgot something?" Rosette tried to give the cloaked man's words a sense. It was confusing, but the way she said it was the only logical way. (AN: I hope it wasn't really too confusing…)

"Phew… Then anything is a whole big conspiracy against the human kingdom…" Joshua realized and ran his hand over his face.

"So now that you can't die ignorantly anymore, I'll let you play with my pets." The cloaked man laughed evilly and pulled on the robe. Nearly all doors in the room swung open and roars or growls were heard.

**AN:** Holy crap! Already chapter 35! Anything's out of plan ." Actually I planned that they would have end the fight by now… But they haven't even begun yet… And I have so many ideas! That's terrible! Lol, no not really. But perhaps I can come over 100.000 words with this story… mwhahahahaha


	36. VI Chapter 36

**Chapter 36:**

The cloaked shape shifter pulled on the rope and the gates opened. Suddenly he disappeared and only the dark cloak stayed back. It fell softly on the ground.

"Wait!" Joshua yelled after him. "And how are we now supposed to get out of here? I mean-"

He was cut off by a loud noise. It came out of the dark door ways. At first a muzzle with sharp fangs appeared out of the shadows. The head and the rest followed. It looked like an animal. But no one of the apostles, the Harvenheit sisters and Chrno had ever seen such an animal. It was a beast on four paws. It had short fur as well and a short tail. The legs were extremely thin and long. The creature snarled. By doing so it called its companions.

Other monsters stepped out of the dark door ways. Every one looked different. Some of them had some remaining human features.

Some of the girls gasped.

"And what shall we do now? Fight them all?" Sathella asked and held up three jewels between her fingers.

"I don't know if that would be such a smart idea…" Chrno shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "Does anyone of you know how to fight?" He addressed on the apostles.

Only Jack and Joshua had some little experiences with weapons. The other ones were either too young or they hadn't had any lessons which showed them how to defend themselves.

"Alright." Chrno nodded. "Sathella, Florette? Can you give us a little lead? We need to bring those who can't defend themselves to a safe place."

The first one attacked and Chrno jumped quickly aside. He rammed his word in the monster's shoulder and it let out a scream. It wasn't dead though.

The jewel witches nodded and summoned their strongest creatures. Sathella's was a knight in white armour. Florette's was a female, as well with armour. Together they tried to keep the distance between the faked devils and the apostles.

"Good. Now come!" Rosette hissed to the teenager and kids next to her. Immediately they left the big hall through the door they had used to come in. The apostles ran through the corridor. Only Jack and Chrno remained at the door. They called the two sisters and closed the door directly after the two women were out of the room with the monsters. All four together blocked the door as the monsters tried to jump against it. They managed to lock it up and Florette built a barrier above the door. But that wouldn't hold long. They had to hurry up.

After the door was safe they headed to the others again.

Panting they came to stop.

Nobody spoke. They all knew that they had to find a way out. But the temple was as big as a labyrinth. And well, full of dangerous monsters well.

Just like on command one of the creatures turned around a corner.

The teenagers noticed it too late. It jumped towards Rosette. Fortunately she dodged away just in time. Instead of her it was Jack who was hit. The poor boy screamed as he felt the pain which was cause by the monster's claws.

One strike with Sathella's jewel knight and it let go of him. It was thrown against the wall. Then it winced because it was hurt and fled away.

"Oh, shit." Chrno cursed and let out some various other curses in his own language. He hurried over to Jack who was now surrounded by all.

The monster's claws had hit him directly at the chest. Four deep furrows marked the points where the claws had landed. Warm red blood was coming out of them. The metallic scent of blood hit Chrno's sensitive nose hard. It smelled disgusting.

"Hurry up! Get something to bandage him!" Rosette called loudly. "Press your hands on the wounds and stop the bleeding, damnit!" Now she nearly cried. She had never felt as bad as now. Jack was wounded badly and that only because of her. Only because she had dodged, he was hurt now. It even looked like he wouldn't survive that…

Jack moaned and winced.

"I don't wanna die…" He wailed croakily.

"Shhh. You're not gonna die…" Rosette said softly and stroke over his hair.

"You… that's all because of you!" He began to yell angrily. "Only because of you I'm hurt now!" The boy sat straight up and caught her hand. He turned it around and glared at the stigmata. "You're blood is telling me… You're scent is telling me everything." He hissed to her and beat Azmaria away as she tried to push him down again. "You're my enemy."

"ROZETTO! GO AWAY FROM HIM!" Chrno shouted. He took her with his arm around her waist and pulled her away before Jack's now clawed hand could scratch her. The others screamed and backed away.

Jack repeated again that she was his enemy and stood on his feet. His blood was dripping down. The eyes were empty. Suddenly his mouth shifted into a crooked smirk. He bared his now long fangs.

"Oh no! The guy from earlier was right! Everyone who gets hurt by these monsters will transform into a monster as well! Get away!" Sathella yelled and let her knight point on him. Meanwhile Joshua and Chrno dragged the other away from Jack in a safe distance.

The hurt boy roared in laughter for some unknown reason. Then his head fell down on his chest and he screamed. Two dark red wings came out of his back. The same happened with two horns on each side of his head. The claws and fangs grew longer.

"He can't be saved anymore!" Sathella shouted and gave the command to kill him to the knight. The knight lifted his jewel sword, but suddenly he exploded. The same happened to Florette.

Shocked Sathella's eyes widened in fear. "Oh no. Why is it just now that the power is empty?" She shrieked spun around and joined the other group. "Sorry. We have to recover first. We can't use the jewels until then." Florette apologized.

Chrno starred at the Jack-monster. Something was different here. He was stronger than all other faked devils. His aura told him. Perhaps it was because he had been an apostle? In any case, one attack of him could be deadly for the others.

"Go." He hissed to the people behind him and stepped forward.

"What?" Rosette burst out. "Do you wanna fight him alone?"

"Alone I have a better chance to win. And if I do, well then you have at least more time." He looked over his shoulder and smiled sadly. "Don't worry. I know exactly what I am doing."

"Fine. If you wanna sacrifice yourself." Sathella shrugged her shoulders and turned around to leave.

Hesitating the others followed. They started running through the corridors. Joshua and Azmaria had to drag Rosette with them because she refused to leave Chrno alone.

"How could you just leave him there?" She screamed at Sathella as she calmed down a little. Well, if you can call that 'calm down'…

"I don't know. But for some reason I trust him. I think he'll find a way to survive it. I have no doubts." She answered her honestly.

Chrno waited until the others were out of sight. He turned around to face his enemy. Jack was just examining his new body. He was taller now and more muscular.

He lifted his head and smirked madly. "It feels good. This power feels good." He whispered. His eyes glowed and she grumbled at Chrno. He took a deep breath. "You are not what you pretend to be." He snarled. "I can sense it… I can sense the demon in you. I'd like to fight with you. But not now. At first I'm killing this Magdalene bitch who did this to me." He let out a terrible sound and spread his wings to full size.

'Holy hell! He's lost his entire mind!' Chrno thought. "You will not get her without killing me." The purple head said sternly. Again he cursed this damn human form. He wondered how many astral he had left… Perhaps it would be enough to change? No, that was too dangerous. If he ran out of astral during the fight, the creature would have free way to kill Rosette. Willy-nilly he had to stay in his weak human form.

A loud CLING was heard as claws hit the sword.

Silently the Harvenheit sisters and the six remaining apostles followed the various corridors. Suddenly there was again an earthquake. Gaps appeared in the stones which built the floor and the walls. One crack in the wall was really big and dust fell from its contours. Two claws widened the gap.

The monsters which had been locked in the hall had been able to escape. Now they were looking for the humans. This was one of the monsters. It crawled trough the new gate to the corridor.

Startled the group of people starred at it.

"Oh no! Why just now!" Sathella shrieked. "We still don't have enough power to summon the jewels!"

They turned around and ran away in the direction they had come from. Shocked they had to realize that the temple was teeming with faked devils. They were everywhere and soon they were all after the apostles and the others.

Suddenly they caught in a dead end. Fortunately it would take some minutes until the monsters had found them. Protectively Sathella and Florette stood in front of the others.

"I really haven't expected this to be that dangerous!" Sathella complained to the others.

Shaking Rosette put her right hand on Sathella's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." The blonde whispered. "I convinced you to come here. And it's me these monsters want." She didn't look in the redhead's face. She kept her eyes on the floor. "Like always I'm the bad luck magnet." The girl chuckled sadly. "I can no longer stand that burden. You fought for me while I did nothing. It's time to change that." She withdrew her hand away from the older one's shoulder and took a deep breath.

"Rosette? What do you mean by that?" Joshua asked worried and pulled on his sister's arm to turn her around. The look in her eyes was creepily calm. "What are you up to?" He looked at her and narrowed his eyes.

"Life is not always lucky. Sometimes you have to fight to reach your goal. Running away is not the solution." Rosette smiled sadly and walked away from them.

The first monsters had found them. They growled loudly ran towards Rosette. The one which was the closest to her jumped towards her.

There was only a flash of white and red. Rosette swirled around. Two streams of blood from the stigmata hit the demon. It jumped back and screamed as it was burned.

"As I thought." Rosette took some steps back. "The stigmata blood is burning them." She smirked. A power in her was rising. It felt strange, but it felt good. It was simply overwhelming. She didn't know what she was doing as she lifted her arms. Two streams of blood poured down from her wrists. In the air the two streams united. It transformed into a weapon. A long staff was the handle. On one end there was a big double-axe. It was decorated with some different signs and symbols. Additional it looked like it was made of red metal. To the others the axe looked heavy. They probably wondered how Rosette was even able to lift it with only one hand. But to Rosette it was as light as a feather. With no problems she swung it at the next monster and it. It was a clean cut through its middle.

The blonde let her body do what it wanted. She had no control. The only thing she could do was stopping it, but then she would surely be killed. So she obeyed the power which led her.

Chrno stopped startled. What was going on there? Just one second ago everything had been normal… well, if you could call these circumstances normal… But suddenly anything had changed. What had happened there?

A hard punch hit him and he stumbled back. Crap. He should have paid attention to his enemy who just grinned at him widely.

"You're getting disturbed too easily. Does she really mean so much to you?" The devil Jack smirked. "Magdalene won't survive that anyways. And your almost dead too."

Chrno growled threatening. "Don't dare to hurt her. And we'll see who's almost dead here."

He tightened the grip around the handle of his sword and swung it.

**AN: **AH, I had so many problems writing the damn fight ." and it's still going on! But Rosette has now a blood red double-axe XD How do you think about that? I thought it would be a good idea. That brings a little change.


	37. VI Chapter 37

**AN:** MariamTiarko asked me the following: What happened to Aion and is he fighting with DeFaux? The answer: Not yet. DeFaux declared war on them, yes, but that does NOT mean that the fight starts immediately. It takes time to collect and mobilize the army. So the Southern county will join the war on the human's side.

So, all of you have been good girls and reviewed quickly, so you get already the next chapter.

**Chapter 37:**

Rosette followed her new instincts. The red double axe flew through the air and beheaded a faked demon. The blonde was surprised by her own strength and powers. She had never really fought before, but now it seemed that she knew exactly what to do. It felt good. This power felt good. But her mind told her that she wasn't allowed to let it take over the entire control. She didn't know what would happen if this part of her was taking over anything. Rosette didn't want to lose herself. She had to take some breaks. Mostly she did that when she ran along the corridor with the others.

They were out of the dead end now. The monsters still kept attacking them. The amount of them rose, but it was decimated by the blood axe. It wouldn't take a long time until she had beaten all of them.

But Rosette was also worried about Chrno. He stayed away too long. What was wrong with him? Actually the fight shouldn't take him too long. What was wrong with him?

Fck! What was wrong with that damn guy? Couldn't he just die? By now Chrno had tried nearly anything to kill him! He had stabbed him, he had cut his throat, he had even tried to cut his legs and arms off, but they grew again within a second! And Jack's other wounds were healing extremely fast. It had no use to hurt him!

And meanwhile Chrno was covered with scratches, bruises and little cuts. Plus he had the feeling that now his left wrist was even sprained. Crap, it was just the hand he held the sword with. He threw the sword in his other hand and let it swirl around the hand one time.

Jack smirked. "My my… and I haven't even begun yet. And now look at you." He did a faked worried face. "And there I thought it would be different with you. I thought you were stronger because I smelled a demon. But I guess I was wrong."

His sharp claw was blocked by Chrno's word. Fortunately the sword was made of a special demonic material or else it would have broken a long time ago. The purple head pushed him away and jumped back. Jack attacked with his other claw.

Chrno dodged. He aimed and hit directly into his stomach. Jack moaned and beat him away with the right arm.

Chrno hit the ground hard. Now he knelt on the floor leaning on one hand. With the other hand he clutched the deep cut over his chest. He had lost his sword too. It was still sticking in the monster's stomach. Jack laughed loudly and drew it out. The faked devil held the sword up and looked at it. "How nice. That sword is quite good, I must say… Let's see what it can do."

"Bastard." Chrno snarled threatening. He bared his fangs and his instincts screamed to him to shift into his demon form, but he wasn't allowed to! He didn't have much astral left! He needed ten times more astral in his demon form than in his human form. The astral that was enough for one day human form was only enough for five perhaps ten minutes!

Jack lifted his arm with the weapon to strike.

Rosette sighed and brushed the sweat on her forehead away with her sleeve.

"Phew. That seemed to be the last one for now." She said relieved. There were no traces, no sounds and nothing else of a monster. For now Rosette could rest a little. And perhaps they would find the exit too.

But it was too early to be happy. Loud footsteps were heard in the corridor to their left. Rosette stood in front of the other's again. She couldn't see anyone though. The corridor went around a corner. The only thing she saw was a black shadow on the wall.

"Chrno?" She called hopefully. It was time for him to return, damnit!

Mad laughter came from behind the corner. Jack stepped into the corridor. "Nearly. Take a second guess, my dear." He smirked disgustingly.

"Jack." She whispered in shock.

"This time you're right, Magdalene." The smirk grew wider. "I hope you're more fun than your little friend."

Rosette gasped and stared at him. In one hand he held Chrno's blood covered sword. His arm was covered with blood too. The clothes were ribbed on some parts, but he had no wounds. The blood on his hands wasn't his.

"No! What did you do to him?" Rosette shrieked, but the answer was obvious.

Jack snorted and licked one of the blooded hands. "Let's play, Magdalene." He stretched out his claws and jumped to them. Rosette dodged it with her axe and motioned something to Sathella.

The redhead's eyes widened and she took her sister and the apostles to bring them to a safer place. It was looking like a big fat fight would start now and she didn't want them to be in the middle of it.

Jack attacked Rosette again. Why was he so damn strong? And why hadn't Chrno used his demonic powers to defeat him? Oh yeah right… too less astral. Rosette took a quick glance on the pocket watch. It was still ticking. That meant that he was still alive, didn't it? But it nearly showed 12 o'clock. Soon his entire astral would be empty.

Jack attacked again. This time even harder than last time.

The girl fell backwards. Before she hit the ground she felt a pain shooting through her left side and screamed loudly. Jack had hit her there. The punch threw her far away directly into the wall. The blonde collided with it and fell on the ground.

ba-dom

Ba-Dom

Ba-DOM

Chrno felt how his heart hammered against his chest. Blood was pumped rapidly into his muscles. He leaned against the wall. The poor boy wasn't even able to clutch his wounds. He did not now where they ended or where new ones began. There was already a big puddle of blood around him. Jack had left him here to die a slow and painful death.

Chrno took a deep breath. He just had to rest some minutes. Then anything would be okay again, wasn't it? He shifted in his position and winced as the pain shot through him again. No, it wouldn't be okay. Not without astral.

Suddenly his muscles strained. His ears pricked up and then he heard her scream. No, he couldn't wait anymore. Even if it meant his death, he would try to save Rosette.

He concentrated and drew new astral so he was able to change. To his surprise it felt different now. It felt as if he had enough astral now. Where did it come from? He didn't mind now. He wanted to rescue her.

"No! Rosette!" Joshua screamed, but he was held back by Sathella.

"We'll take care of him. We are not allowed to lose the princess and the prince on only one day." Florette said and prepared to fight.

Jack was coming closer to the unconscious Rosette. Suddenly the blonde girl screamed loudly. A big black-redish pentagram appeared around her. Jack jumped back and landed on hands and feet. He hissed at her. That was an unexpected situation to him. He snarled and came closer again.

Sathella and Florette were just about to set their jewel creatures as they heard a loud growl. It was deep and threatening.

It gave Sathella the creep.

A black winged creature jumped out of the corridor jack had come from. It jumped on jack's back and dug its claws into him.

Jack screamed and tried to pull him down. The one with the dark wings let go of him and jumped next to him. With an aimed kick he kicked Jack directly into the face breaking his jaw. Jack stumbled and fell.

Meanwhile the new one was already next to Rosette and picked her up. Before they were hit by Jack's next attack they were already gone. Suddenly they appeared again next to Joshua. He handed Rosette to her brother.

"Take good care of her." Chrno growled and turned to Jack again. "And you shut up." He said coldly and shot an energy ball at him. It hit its target, plus it destroyed the wall. The hole in the wall formed a way outside. Dim morning light was falling through it.

"You'll wait outside." Chrno commanded. He was still really pissed. "I'll go and take care of the last monsters. They're not allowed to get outta here."

"B-but Rosette killed all." Azmaria winced.

"No there are more. I can sense them." He bared his fangs and snarled. His demon blood was taking over fully. Was that good or bad? Well, in a situation like this it was good. It saved him and the others from dying. But therefore the others had to stay away from him. In this other mode he would kill everyone standing in his way. He could not guarantee that he would not kill one of them. It was safer for them to stay outside.

Frightened the apostles and the Harvenheit sisters looked at him. The only one who didn't look afraid was Sheda. She looked at him with big eyes and admired the huge wings and the bone tail.

Joshua got the control over himself again. "Let's go then." He said and walked out. The others followed. Phew. They were out of way now. Chrno closed his eyes. As he opened them again they had changed. He bared his fangs. It nearly looked like a smirk. Then he went to hunt.

Rosette woke up after ten minutes. She asked what happened and how they had gotten out of the temple. The others explained it to her.

"He must have been infected with this curse!" Sathella suggested and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"What?" Rosette asked weary. "No. He IS a demon and he has ever been one." She replied.

Joshua nodded confirming. "She says the truth."

"What?" The others except for Azmaria and Sheda (who knew it) screamed.

Rosette got on her feet. Her wounds didn't hurt so much anymore. They still hurt, but not as much as at the beginning. "Listen. I'll go inside again to help him. He's right. There are lots of more demons and I can feel them too. I should help him."

The others wanted to stop her, but her brain switched to stubborn again. She entered the temple through the hole in the wall and followed her feeling. It would lead her to the place where Chrno was. She was now deep within the temple again. Suddenly there was one more earthquake. The floor cracked up. Liquid lava streamed out of it. Rosette shrieked. There was a volcano underneath! Rosette ran away from the gaps in the floor. She took another way. The blonde had to do that more often because there were lots of these gaps. Finally she found Chrno and the rest of the faked devils.

Rosette's body went numb. Like frozen she stopped midstep. The girl couldn't believe what she had seen… She had seen Chrno kill the monsters. Well, most of them were already dead as she came, but nevertheless she had seen Chrno tearing at least four of them apart. Now the dead bodies lay on the floor. Everything was covered with blood and guts. The scenario looked terrible. One wall was destroyed as well. The floor one whole big mess of blood, guts, brains, muscles and bones. And in the middle of this mess Chrno. Never ever before Rosette had really been scared of him. He had always been gentle and nice to her. So there was no reason to fear him. Why should she? But now… now anything had changed… Was this the change the clairvoyante had told her about?

Terrified the blonde looked at the devil. His wings spread out to full size – some parts of them were even ribbed -, blood on his razor sharp claws and bone tail. Wounds and scratches covered his body as well. The girl couldn't tell anymore what his blood was and what wasn't. But all that, all the all that blood and demonic features, all that was nothing compared to his eyes. These eyes scared her the most. These eyes weren't Chrno's anymore. These ones were full of hatred, rage and… the desire to kill more… to take more lives.

With the fear written in her face Rosette backed away from him as he turned towards her. She backed away until she felt the cold hard bricks of the fall. Oh no, she was caught in a corner.

With more fear rising in her she saw that he was coming closer and closer – still with this look in his eyes. Then he was only one arm length away from her. He lifted his clawed hands.

Rosette closed her eyes tightly as he stroke. She felt blood hitting her face and her shoulder. To her relief it wasn't her own. The girl opened her eyes and realized that he had hit the last monster in this room. Like a bat it hung from the ceiling, just two head lengths away from her.

Chrno drew his claws out of it. At the same time he threw it to the other end of the hall. There was a smacking noise.

Rosette couldn't hold it back anymore. Warm tear began to roll down her cheek.

Shocked he widened his eyes. Rosette stood right in front of him and cried. Why did she cry? He didn't want her to… Who had made her to? Chrno wanted to touch her shoulder, wanted to comfort her. But as he reached out with his hand to do so, the poor girl screamed and beat his hand away.

"**Don't touch me**!" She shrieked while doing so.

Surprised Chrno drew his hand back.

"What's wrong with you?" he wanted to ask her, but the words never left his mouth.

Now she even began to cry harder. She clutched her shoulders and slid down at the wall. "Don't… don't touch me… please… don't... don't…" She winced.

Chrno wanted to touch her shoulder again, but she screamed one more time.

Then the devil realized the blood on his hand. As he looked around his heart seemed to stop. Was he responsible for this? Was this mess his fault? He couldn't remember… Why couldn't he remember? But no, no, he couldn't believe. Like Rosette before Chrno backed off and brought some distance between them. There he sunk to his knees. He put his hands on his head and pulled on his hair like he wanted to rib it off. Then he let out a terrible scream.

Rosette winced again to the time she heard that. She was sitting in the corner with her legs pulled up to her chest and her face was buried in her arms.

Chrno tried to clean himself up a bit. He brushed the blood away and crept to Rosette.

"Rozetto." He said weary. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't want you to see that. Please… I… I didn't want to scare you! Please believe me!" He wailed.

Rosette glared over the sleeve of her shirt with watery eyes. The look in Chrno's eyes normalized, so she decided to speak.

"But you did." She said between the sobs which escaped her lips from time to time. "I thought you'd kill me."

Shocked Chrno widened his eyes again. "Rozetto… I would never harm you… you or someone who's precious to you. And you know that!" He said with trembling lips. "Please! Believe me!" He cried.

"And how shall I trust you after seeing this? After seeing that you're a monster?" Her head shot up and she glared furiously at him.

Her words hurt him badly. They hurt him more than every physical wound had every done.

The devil took her in his arms and pressed her tightly to his chest. His skin burned where the blood from the stigmata touched him. It didn't matter. Even though Rosette protested hard and tried to push him away, Chrno held her tight and buried his face into her left shoulder.

"Rozetta… I… I'm sorry that you had to see this. But neither can I deny what I am. And I am a devil." He paused shortly. "But no one ever asked me if I wanted to be one… But Rozetto… The fact is that I could never harm you because I…" His voice was shaking. "Because I love you." He whispered in her ear and gave her gentle kiss on her lips.

Suddenly he picked her in his arms and jumped backwards. Just in time. There was another earthquake and a big stone fell at the place where they had been just seconds ago. A part of the ceiling had crashed down. A hole appeared in the ground and lava came out of it.

Rosette tried to struggle free. Chrno didn't let her go. He flew through the whole in the ceiling outside. There he landed in a little distance to the apostles and the jewel witches. Rosette jumped out of his arms and ran to her brother.

"What's wrong with you?" Joshua asked worried. He saw that something was not right with his sister.

"I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT NOW!" His sister yelled. "AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE HIM AGAIN!"

**AN:** Woahoooo, pretty long chapter ^^ I wrote the last part (the part begins with Rosette finding Chrno in the temple) at 2am. For an unknown reason all chapters I write late in the night are relatively good… so, tell me what you're thinking. **Review please!^^**


	38. VI Chapter 38

**AN: **This was my first chapter that I wrote after a long writing break, so please be nice to me^^ Oh and writing the end of this chapter was just great XDDD and funny

**Chapter 38:**

„I don't want to see him again!" Rosette yelled and stamped in the opposite direction.

"Hey, wow, what's up with her?" Sathella asked Joshua with a frown on her face. "Apropos, where's Chrno?" Sathella now asked Rosette who was already further away.

"I don't care!" The blonde yelled again and cursed her too long dress for getting stuck on the ground.

Just in that minute one more earthquake shook the ground.

The apostles screamed and spread their wings in order to take off in the air. It was to dangerous now on the ground. The two jewel witch summoned their flying creatures too.

Fiore also took Shader with her. The action had been a little bit too much for the little demon girl.

As soon as all were airborne, huge gaps appeared in the ground and red magma came out of it. Some dangerous sounds were heard from the stones.

"Get away! I'll explode!" One of the other Apostles screamed.

Together they flew along the way to the ocean. Just in time they left the area around the temple. It exploded with a huge noise. Black smoke and lava came out of the hole which was left.

Chrno stayed back for a while. He knew that he had made her angry somehow. But it had not been in his intention to do so. Finally he had been brave enough to tell her how he was feeling. He absolutely hadn't thought that she would react like this… It hurt him…

With Rosette in this mood, the devil decided to bring some distance between them at first. Therefore he waited some minutes until he followed her outside. Because of an earthquake the exit was blocked though. Feeling the earth under his feet breaking apart he shot an astral bullet. Now the exit was free and he rushed outside. The building fell into ruins and not much later the whole top of the mountain exploded.

Summoning an energy barrier Chrno protected himself from being hurt by flying stones.

He left the dangerous area and looked around. Nowhere he could see someone of the others.

"I hope they made it…" He muttered to himself. On the other hand he was sure that they had used their apostle abilities to get away. Now they were probably on the way home which meant that they had to go to the harbor. That was the most obvious place.

Chrno tilted his wings and speeded up.

At the end of the day the apostles and the two jewel witches saw the harbor village. Their apostle powers weakened and they had to land on the ground before their wings vanished. The only one with wings was now Shader, but she had her demon wings all the time anyways. (yes, in this ff she does have wings) Rosette told her to change back into her human form. Like this no one in the village would be afraid of them because a demon was with them. Arriving at the harbor they had one more problem though. The red bearded captain still refused to take women on his ship. Unfortunately most of them were female.

"No women." The captain said again and sent them away.

"But you see, it's really important!" Rosette crossed her arms. She could be really stubborn when she wanted. "Listen we had a lot of action in the last time. Now the only thing we want is to go home! Look at them" She pointed towards her friends. "They are exhausted, they're tired! The only thing they want is to go home!"

"I told you already!" The old sailor grunted. "And my opinion won't change! I have no problem with the boys and men sailing on our ship, but no women. A woman on sea brings misfortune. She angers the sea God."

"Then go and kiss the ass of your fcking sea God!" Rosette yelled at him.

"You little brat!" The captain yelled at her. "I should punish you for that!"

"S-she didn't mean it that way!" Joshua stepped between them and smiled nervously.

"Oh yes, I did!" Rosette shouted before Sathella dragged her away.

"Please." Joshua pleaded him. "It's only for this single time."

"No. Moreover we're leaving in 15 minutes. So leave this place."

"But you don't understand. I am the crown prince and my sister is the crown princess and we need your help!" Perhaps that strategy would work.

"Sure and I am the pope. Now get outta here!" The captain said loudly.

"But captain, they say the truth." Fiore joined the conversation too, but the red bearded man stayed stubborn. One minute later he had all Apostles around him and they were all trying to convince him.

All of a sudden the old man stared shocked behind them. The apostles turned around and saw that Chrno had arrived to. He wasn't even trying to hide his devil shape and came right towards them.

The captain got ready to run away, but he was caught by his collar as Chrno appeared directly next him.

"You will take them with you, won't you?" The demon asked him in an emphasized polite manner.

Only noticing the glowing eyes, sharp fangs and claws, the old captain nodded quickly.

"I already thought so. That is very kind of you." Chrno smirked at him and let go of his shirt.

As soon as he was free the man ran away as fast as he could.

"Hm. Thanks, I guess." Joshua turned to Chrno and the others thanked him too.

"No problem." Chrno changed into his human form and clapped his hands. "So, shall we board the ship then?" he smiled at his new friends who smiled back.

He looked over to Rosette who glared back. Chrno sighed. He had to talk to her either tonight or tomorrow. He just couldn't stand her being angry with him.

On the ship the other sailors didn't seem too pleased with their new guests. They already wanted to revolt against their captain, but Chrno convinced them quickly by doing the same than with the captain.

The ship left the port as the sun set. On this way it was easier for the coxswain to determine the right route for their journey by looking at the now showing stars.

The meal this evening was rather poor. It consisted of bread and fish. Joshua was worried about Rosette. She didn't eat anything. He knew his sister good enough to know that something had to be extremely wrong. As he asked her she said everything was okay and left the room. Joshua narrowed his eyes and turned around to Chrno who was sitting next to him.

"What did you do to my sister?"

Chrno nearly choked on his food. "I didn't do anything to make her angry! I swear!"

"Hmpf. But something must have happened. She's like that since she came back from looking for you. So something must have happened. And if you're not telling me what it was then talk at least to her. I don't like her seeing like that. You better try to make everything alright or you'll get trouble with me." Joshua warned him.

"Yes, you're right." Chrno closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll talk to her then." He put the fork away and got up.

Outside the wind was cool, much colder than the air on Krefya. Chrno let his gaze wander around. Soon his eyes were caught by the blonde who was leaning with her back towards him on the parapet. With fast steps he approached her.

"Rozetto, can I talk to you please?" He asked her nervously as he was close enough.

The girl spun around and looked startled at him. "No." She replied him and went away.

"But Rozetta, please!" The devil pleaded her and followed her.

"I already said no." She didn't even turn around.

"Come on! Don't be so mean!" He reached his arm out to hold her back.

Before he could do so she spun around. "Don't even dare to touch me." She growled. "And get out of my life."

Chrno couldn't tell why her voice was shaking now. Either it was because of her anger or because of something else he didn't know.

He lowered his hands again. "As you wish. But remember that I have never wanted to hurt you somehow."

"Whatever." The deadly icy stare gave in her blue eyes him the rest.

Then she went into the room where the others were. She knew exactly that he would leave her alone when they were with the others.

Chrno stayed back alone. Tired he ran his hand over his face. What had he done wrong? He had always been nice to her. He had always treated her special, so why didn't she like him anymore? He had known from the beginning that the chance was given that she didn't love him back. That would have been okay as long as she was his friend. But now she hated him! So fatal…

Depressed Chrno went to the sleeping place. Even though he didn't sleep, he was able to rest at least. Thinking about it, he was tired. He hadn't slept for a long time now. The last time had been one week ago or so. (AN: remember, demons don't need to sleep as much as humans, they can 'guard', meaning a trance like state in which their senses are sharpened)

Some time later he heard the others coming also. During the night everything was terribly loud because everyone was snoring. A terrible sound in Chrno's sensible ears.

In the middle of the night something suddenly pulled on his sleeve and something heavy fell on him.

"What the –" He turned around and faced two glowing eyes.

"_I can't sleep."_ Little Shader wailed in her mother tongue.

"Oh great…" Chrno sighed heavily. Not even now he could rest. "_Ah well, I'll bring you outside._" He got up and lifted his cousin in his arms. Thanks to his night view he didn't fell over the sleeping persons who were lying everywhere.

Out side he out Shader down. "_Are you happy now?"_ He asked her.

The little girl ran to the parapet and squealed with joy as two huge whales came to the water surface. "_FISHIES!"_

"_Yeah, but take care that you don't fall do-_" Just in time he caught her before she fell over the balustrade. Shader giggled and pulled with both hands on his cheeks.

"_Hey, that hurts!_" The older demon complained.

"Cou~" Shader giggler using her nickname for 'cousin'. She let go off his cheeks and gripped a strand of purple hair instead. That was one of the few times that he was really happy that he didn't had the long braid anymore. She wouldn't have let go of it if she had seen it.

The next morning Azmaria woke up with a funny sight. She was the first who to wake up this morning. The albino girl found Chrno sitting on deck. All of his shoulder long hair was parted into many many little braids with ribbons on it. (AN: *imagines the picture* ROFL)

Azzy got a laughing flash and couldn't stop anymore.

"W-What –" She couldn't finish her sentence and laughed more because of Chrno's annoyed face. Tears were already coming out of the girl's eyes.

"It is not funny." Chrno growled and Azmaria collapsed because she had to laugh so hard. With her hand she brushed away some tears. "Oh my, what happened to you?" She finally asked.

"Don't ask me, ask her." Chrno pointed with his chin to the little devil child who was sleeping peacefully on his lap. "She was hyper the whole night long. And now the stupid braids are tangled and I don't get my hair normal again."

Azmaria's cheeks were already red because she tried so hard to hold back another laugh flash.

"Don't laugh at me!" Chrno almost wailed. "Or the tall evil devil is haunting you!"

"You mean the tall evil devil with braids and pink ribbons?" Azmaria couldn't resist.

"Ah! That's so embarrassing!"

"I'm sorry." Azmaria apologized and began fumbling on his hair. It didn't take her a long time to remove the braids. His hair was now messy though.

"Thanks." Chrno sighed and brushed the bangs out of his face.

In that moment Shader woke up and looked up to Chrno.

"Y_OU DESTROYED MY MASTERPIECE! BUHUUUUU~"_ Big tears appeared in her eyes and she began to cry loudly.

"Oh great… now she crying." The shrill tune hurt in Chrno's ears. Moreover it woke everybody up.

Soon all of their group were gathered around asking what happened.

"_I made cousin so nice braids!"_ – sob sob – _"With ribbons and such! Many many braids!"_ –sob – "_And they destroyed my masterpiece!"_ Shader screamed unhappy between some sobs.

Not knowing how to speak the language the others only understood: "bbabsefbolfgasoöfgtrhsdg" Only Rosette understood and began to laugh nearly like Azmaria did. She took Shader in her arms. _"I'm sure that looked amazing, little sweetheart."_ She told her and made the little girl smile again.

"Uh, Rozette, can I talk to-" Chrno tried it again.

"Remember what I told you yesterday." The girl hissed and cuddled the smaller demon.

Shader who was now happy again clapped her hands and squeaked.

"What did Shader say?" Joshua leaned over to Chrno and asked him.

"You don't want to know…" Chrno said. He was still pissed off.

**AN:** Ah, cute little Shader XDDD Bwahahahahaha Chrno with his head full of braids XDDD ROFL ROFL ROFL

**REMEMBER TO REVIEW** thanks^^


	39. VI Chapter 39

AN: I'm getting some reviews faster now which means I can upload faster. The more and faster i get reviews the faster I will upload new chappies. I could also upload 10 chapters a day, but I doubt that I'll get that many reviews...

**Chapter 39:**

While Rosette was taking care of Shader, Chrno could at least rest over the day. Though, he had to help on the ship. Additional his sea sickness left its greetings too. In contrast to the last time the waves in the ocean were higher and his headache had increased. But this time he was not alone. One of the apostles, the apostle from the Northern human kingdom Lydia, had gotten sea sick as well. Her condition was worse. The only thing she did was hanging over the balustrade and puking the whole day long. Only during the next night she stayed calm.

Chrno couldn't sleep again and climbed into the basket at the end of the mast. It was his duty this night to watch out for any dangers.

It was a boring and lonely job. Chrno put his head on his arms which were resting on the edge of the big basket. Indifferent he blew some purple hair out of his face.

Out of the blue he heard some scratching and looked down. Fortunately he wasn't afraid of heights…

Shocked he saw that Shader climbed up all the way to him. He took her at the back of her clothes and pulled her into the basket.

"Higher! Higher!" The girl giggled.

'Oh dear, why does she have to be such a hyper kid?' Chrno thought and scolded her for doing such dangerous things. As Shader began to sob again, he apologized again. A crying Shader was the last thing he needed now.

"Cou~" The younger one purred happily and rubber her head on his. "Why so sad?" She asked him with big eyes.

"Hu? I'm not sad. Where did you get that idea from? Ah, perhaps you mean the sea sickness. I've got a headache because of the ocean waves and the movements of the ship." He replied puzzled.

"No, I don't mean sea sick. You are always sad when you look at auntie Rozette. But I'm sure she likes you too, but she's too stubborn to admit. I can be stubborn too, you know. For example the last I BLABLABLABLABLA" She began babbling random stuff.

Thoughtfully her elder cousin stared at her. Was he really so see-through that even that little child could guess what he's thinking? Or was it just that Shader had this supernatural feeling for emotions some demons had?

"u~ ! Cou~! COU~!"

"Hm?" Shader got his full attention again and was visibly happy about that.

"Not be sad… cou…" Shader said and patted his cheek with her little hand. Then she hugged him and purred loudly. "She will like you."

"Hm. But I think I did something wrong and now she hates me. You're too young to understand." He told her softly and began to purr too.

"No! Cou didn't do something false! Cou never does something wrong! Cou always right." The little she-devil contradicted.

"That's nice of you. But I am not perfect. Nobody is." He explained her and lifted her up so she could sit on his shoulders. "Didn't you want to be higher a little while ago." He grinned at her.

"I CAN TOUCH THE STARS!" She screamed.

Chrno laughed. "No, you can't."

"YES I CAN!"

"No, you can't. Nobody can."

"BUT I CAN!"

"No, y-"

"**I CAN."**

"Okay, okay…" The tall devil surrendered to the small one.

"YAY!"

Shader didn't stop going on his nerves for this night too. Chrno absolutely needed some sleep…

But today was the day the ship was supposed to arrive at the home port. The weather had gotten worse and much much much colder. That was a sign that it couldn't take a long time until they would arrive. On the home continent was already deep winter after all.

Chrno didn't like that drastic change of weather. It only increased his headache. Shader wasn't really best for it too… At least he had finished his watch-out duty. Now he was on deck with the others.

A freezing cold wind blew and the clouds eclipsed.

"Ehye… If that's not gonna be a storm…" Worried the red bearded captain told everyone to be alerted.

"Land!" Rosette shouted suddenly and pointed towards the cliffs.

Everyone ran to the right side of the boat to see it with their own eyes.

"Land! Land!" Shader repeated Rosette's words and raced towards the mast. She climbed up the whole thing in order to have a better look from the basket. Nobody noticed her at first.

"Someone get the child down from there!" The sailor who had watch-out duty shouted and all gazes were aimed at the little devil girl who had now big troubles because of the strong cold wind. It was cold and her little fingers were freezing. The storm had begun and she had trouble with holding herself. "Cou~" She wailed.

"I'll go get her." Chrno was already on his way. He was a little bit too late though.

Shader already slipped off the mast and dug her claws into the huge main sail. The sail ribbed at the places where her claws had made holes into it and she slid down the whole sail leaving long cuts behind. Shader reached the deck safely.

The sail didn't survive it though. It was totally ribbed and flattering in the wind. The two minor sails weren't able to keep the ship on curse and the ship made a sharp curve to the right. Salt water was swapping over the right side on the deck.

The captain yelled some commands and the sailors tried to fix it. The attempts were useless and the waves got higher and higher.

"Ah, we're sinking!" Azmaria shouted fearfully.

"No, we are not sinking!" Rosette shouted back to her. Just in that minute she noticed a huge wave coming towards them. "Oh crap… You're right. We're sinking…" And the huge wave crashed onto them. The pressure with which the water came down was incredible high and the water was incredibly cold. Only with some trouble Rosette was able to stay where she was by clinging to the parapet. Some other weren't as lucky as her. They were sliding over the deck. One sailor fell into the deep dark ocean. Everybody screamed trying to protect either himself or his best friend.

A second wave came from the other side and flooded the ship. The huge ship was blown out off course and smashed on a big rock which was a part of the shelf. Panicked the passengers got into the two little emergency boats.

Unfortunately the little boats couldn't stand the storm and sunk too.

Chrno froze on his whole body and clung at the smaller boat which was now upside down. Next to him Joshua appeared.

"Where's Rosette?" The blonde boy screamed against the storm.

"What? I thought she was with you!" Chrno shouted back.

"NO!" Joshua yelled.

"Uh oh, she's just such a danger magnet!" Chrno looked around. He hadn't seen her since they left the main ship. " I'll look for her!"

Joshua nodded and helped Azmaria to climb onto the little boat. In the background the old captain clung to a swimming boad: "Aye, I have told you! Women on board bring misfortune!"

Chrno scanned his surroundings. Between the high waves he couldn't see Rosette. Hopefully that she wasn't still on the main ship.

He orientated himself and swam towards the place where the last piece of the main ship was seen.

The demon breathed deeply in and out before he started to dive down. There was only broken wood and air bubbles. Nothing else. Some parts of the freight were drifting upwards.

Suddenly his eyes were caught by some long white pieces of cloth floating with the waves.

It was too late for now. He needed new air. After breaking through the water surface Chrno breathed heavily and dived down again.

He swam to the place where he had seen the cloth. As he had guessed it belonged to Rosette's dress. As she saw him some bubbled came out of her mouth and she pointed hectically with her index finger onto her dress.

Chrno arrived next to her and took a closer look on the dress. The seam was caught by a nail which stuck out. The clothes the dress was made of was very stabile and it didn't rip. It stuck to the nail. Chrno pulled on the cloth, but it wouldn't rib. He felt that Rosette was getting more and more nervous next to him. It was a wonder that she hadn't fallen into unconsciousness yet. Her movements slowed down. She was completely out of air now.

Eventually Chrno ribbed the cloth with his claws enough to get it free. He took Rosette around her waist and dived up.

On the air the lungs were aching because of the cold air. Rosette coughed all the time and split out the water she had breathed in. Chrno pulled her to a piece of swimming wood and made sure the girl wouldn't sink down again.

Another big wave came and drifted them away. In the distance Rosette saw some land and called Chrno's attention to it. He nodded and pushed Rosette into the right direction.

Fortunately the ocean stream had brought them next to the coast.

Some of the others were already at the beach. They waved to them and called them. Feeling ground under his feet Chrno pulled Rosette up to her feet too and supported her. Joshua hurried to them and helped them too.

The ones, who had stranded, had already made a campfire to warm them up.

The wet clothes were heavily and terribly cold. Most of the people had already blue lips. From time to time some new people stranded. Another group who had already recovered searched on the beach for more survivors.

Rosette sat down next to Azmaria.

"Thank you." She said without turning around to Chrno who was standing on her left side.

"No problem." He sat down too.

"You could have died…" The blonde whispered.

"I don't die so easily." He answered her shortly and poured the water out of his shoes.

"It was dangerous nevertheless…"

"Nothing's too dangerous for me to save you." Chrno smiled and tried to cheer her up.

Without another word Rosette got up and went away.

Stunned Chrno looked at her back before he got up and followed her. "Hey, what's wrong with you? Why won't you talk to me? I thought we were friends again."

"Please." She gestured him to keep some distance. "Please, I beg you to stay out of my life. Please, oh please, leave me alone." Tears started to prickle in her eyes. "Please…"

She spun around and raced towards the forest next to the beach.

Speechless Chrno watched her. And what had he done wrong this time? It was him who rescued her, so why was she like that now?

"And what do you think are you doing here?" Startled he jumped to the right and faced Sathella.

"Hurry up and follow her, you dolt! You can't just leave it to this!" The redhead commanded him.

Silently the devil gulped and nodded. That jewel witch could be really scary if she wanted…

"What are you waiting for?" Sathella's voice rose. Why did she always have to push the people into their luck? Couldn't they find it on their own?

This time Chrno spun around and followed Rosette. She was already far away, but he could follow her beautiful scent. A little bit deeper in the forest he saw Rosette between some evergreen bushed.

Her steps were so fast that he had to run to catch up with her. He called her name and approached.

Suddenly she turned around and slapped him hard on the face.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" The girl yelled at him loudly. "You do you think you are scaring me like this?" She repeated. The energy she seemed to have before had vanished.

"I-I'm sorry Rozetta." Apologize. Yes, that was a good beginning. "If you mean that at the temple, then I can explain it. I-I lost control during the attempt to protect you… with the result that I became one of those monsters myself. But I said that I would never harm you and that was true. I would never lie to you because you're one of the few people I hold dear." His eyes were screaming 'Forgive me!'

Without warning Rosette fell down to her knees. Her shoulders were hanging down loosely. The hair was covering the face.

"That wasn't your fault." She suddenly said. "I've known that you are a demon… and you can't deny your demonical instincts. I said that your demonical looking scared me… But that is not true. It was the cold look in your eyes… in these eyes that I only know as warm and friendly eyes…" Then she fell silent.

Chrno stunned at her. "So that was not the reason for this here?"

Slowly she shook her head. "The demon in you is not the problem. "She drew in a sharp breath. "The problem is something totally different…"

So if that wasn't the problem, what was it then? Chrno saw she was trembling.

"You may hug me now."

"Uh, what?" Chrno hadn't realized what she had told him yet.

"You always hugged me to comfort me…already to the time we were little kids." She let out a sad ironical chuckle. "Now you're allowed to. I need it, so please…"

Like commanded he rushed to her side and embraced her tightly. Rosette put her arms around his back and started to cry softly in his shoulder. For her it felt good to feel his warmth.

"Shhh." Chrno told her. "Everything's gonna be alright."

"No! Nothing's alright!" She wailed. "I'm still so scared!"

"Then tell me why." He rested his arm against her head and began to purr in order to calm her down.

After some sobs Rosette spoke again. "I'm not afraid of you 'cause you're a demon. I'm afraid of me 'cause I'm a princess!"

That was… unexpected. It confused Chrno. Hm, he would never understand what's going on in a woman's mind.

"To be a princess means that I have my duties to fulfill. But if I… no if you… or if we…" She trailed off and seemed to run out of words. Finally she found her speech again. "Okay. I- I hope it's okay for me to say now… Chrno,… you said you loved me. And to be honest I…" She needed a short break to get the control over herself back. "I think I-I love you too."

For Chrno it felt like his heart just stopped beating. Did she really mean it?

"No." –Chrno's heart dropped as she said that. – "I KNOW that I love you too."

The big heavy stone fell off Chrno's heart again. "Then, what is the problem?"

"As long as I am a princess, we won't be allowed to be together." She pressed her face tighter on his shoulder. One day the king, my father, will engage me to a nobleman and I have to marry him. My heart couldn't bear it to leave you behind for him. I don't want to break both our hearts. I don't want to lose you." Now all her emotions came out of her. Waterfalls of tears were streaming down her face. "And I can get married as soon as I turn 16. That's not a long time until then!"

"January the 28th, isn't it?" Chrno cut her off.

"You still know my birthday?" She asked surprised.

"Sure. How could I ever forget?"

"You're so kind. You don't deserve me…" More tears were coming out of the corner of her eyes.

Chrno patiently waited until the girl in his arms calmed down a little. He placed a quick little kiss on her forehead and turned her face to him. Their foreheads were leaning on each other's. Ocean blue eyes were staring in blood red ones.

"Then we should use the little time we have left until then." He whispered playfully and kissed her. Unlike the last time he had done so, Rosette didn't struggle and kissed him back. She removed her hands from his back and put them around his neck.

After a while they broke the kiss because both needed to breathe.

Chrno nuzzled Rosette neck and she giggled.

No matter how much she enjoyed the moment she had to push him away to tell him some last words. Before he could protest, she had placed her index finger on his lips. "Seriously. Nobody's allowed to know about us, understand? Or we'll be in great trouble."

Chrno nodded and continued nuzzling her neck.

Suddenly they heard a someone call for them.

"Always that bad timing." Rosette pouted and Chrno chuckle.

He got up and held a hand out of her.

"Oh what a gentleman my knight is." She laughed.

"Well, nothing's good enough for my fair lady." Chrno grinned and pulled her on her feet.

Together they headed back to the beach. Joshua already awaited them with crossed arms.

"There you are! Care to explain what took you so long?" He was pissed. "Did you at least solve the problem you two had with each other?" The prince asked after he didn't get an answer.

"Yes, kind of." Rosette chirped happily.

"And why are you now so super happy?" Joshua leaned over to watch his sister closely.

"I survived that stupid sinking ship. Am I not allowed to be happy?" She replied and went to the fireplace.

_End of Part VI_

**AN:** Finally! The first real kiss! And it only took them 39 chapters XDDD Sorry to make you wait so long…


	40. VII Chapter 40

_PART VII_

**Chapter 40:**

During the storm they had lost two sailors. Some others were more or less hurt. But no one would die because of his injuries.

The group who had been looking for other stranded people came back with a good message. The big harbour city, Sathella's home town, wasn't far away. It would take two hours to go there.

The last sailors from the ship just arrived and got out of the cold water. Now the whole big group was complete. They waited a little bit until everyone's clothes were dry and began their way to the city.

The weather here was really terrible. While it had been tropically warm on Krefya, it was pure coldness here. There was no one who didn't shiver.

"Do you would like to have my cloak, Rozetta?" Chrno wanted to know. He had found the cloak earlier on the beach.

She shook her head and rubbed her cold arms. "No, then you wouldn't have anything to keep you warm."

He took off the cloak and placed it over her shoulders. "I don't freeze so easily." A grin appeared on his face. "I have my own way to stay warm." He changed into his demon form making some of the sailors jump back and wince. "Cowards. Hmpf" Chrno commented their behaviour and covered himself with the huge wings. Now it didn't look different from the cloak he had worn before.

Rosette chuckle. "Yes. How could I forget."

One hour afterwards they took a little break.

Rosette stayed next to Sathella to chat with her. Sathella was pissed. Her nice dress was dirty and ribbed at the seam. The leather of her shoes was ruined and the worst was that her make-up, her eyeliner and mascara more precisely, left some funny dark stripes on her face. She also needed a new manicure. A fatal day for the spoilt snob.

"See it from the bright side: We rescued the others. Isn't that something good?" Rosette suggested her.

Sathella smiled now. "Yes, you're right… but these were my favourite shoes~"

Rosette sighed and decided that it had no use to talk to Sathella now and looked for someone else to talk to.

Suddenly Shader jumped on her shoulder and clung on her neck.

"_Rozetta!"_ She chirped and hugged her. For the little girl the whole thing had been a funny adventure.

"_Puh! Don't scare me like that, little one!" _The blonde laughed and carried Shader for a little while. Even though it was her fault that the ship had sunken, Rosette couldn't be mad at the cute little devil.

"_Rozetto?_" Shader asked with a lower voice. "_Did you talk to Cou~? He really likes you and he'll be sad again if you don't like him too."_ The little girl was whispering, so no one else could hear what she was saying.

Rosette looked at her and smiled brightly. _"Yes. I like him now too."_

Being satisfied with that answer Shader began to babble stupid stuff again.

In the late afternoon they arrived in the city. Like always a lot off little shops there were with fishers and other merchants selling their ware.

The first thing Sathella did was racing into her house and taking a hot bath. The other went home, the apostles were invited to stay in the Harvenheit mansion by Fiore.

There, the butler Steiner prepared a huge dinner for them.

For the apostles it was something they hadn't gotten in a long time. The food in the dungeon had always been disgusting. Now all of them were worshiping Steiner's cooking skills.

Suddenly the door burst open. All people in the room jumped in their seats.

A devil with some sort of uniform stepped in. Before someone else's was able to react, Chrno dragged him outside and closed the door behind them.

The others were still staring at the door… except for Rosette who was still eating and eating and eating…

Twenty minutes later Chrno entered the room again, the other devil on his heels. With a pale face he asked the Harvenheits shortly if they could give a room to the other devil to rest and sat down his seat.

"What happened?" Joshua asked him curiously.

"We have a problem…" Chrno answered him seriously and pressed his lips together. "A big one…"

"How big exactly? Please define that." Rosette wanted to know now too.

"Somehow Aion started a revolution against the Pandemonium and now the other three Lords declared war on our Southern county too." The purple haired devil explained. "Actually we planned to stay neutral. We didn't want a war and we're not enough prepared. Now things have changed. I have to contact your father as soon as possible. Looks like the simple armistice has changed into an alliance. We're joining on your side. That seems to be good for you, but not for us from the Southern county…"

"That's great. Then we would have a chance to win the war." Joshua hoped for the best.

Chrno shook his head. "The demonic army is powerful. They have thousand of troops be it in the air, on land or in the water. Moreover every single demon has special attacks and abilities. It'll be a difficult task to defeat them."

"Do you always have to think so pessimistic?"

"I am not thinking pessimistic. I'm thinking realistic and I say it how it is. In these times the truth is important and I won't lie about such an important subject to make you feel happy." Chrno bit his lip. He stopped as he tasted the metallic flavour of blood. Quickly he licked it away and got up. "It'll be best if I contact the king immediately. From here I guess it takes one and a half day to fly there. Less if I take the direct air way and don't rest in the night."

"But Chrno. It's already evening and it's dark outside. Moreover it's so cold. Can't you wait until tomorrow?" Rosette asked him. She didn't want to be separated from him now.

"But –"

"No buts, you're staying until tomorrow." Sathella tried to support Rosette. "You are my guest and I command you to stay."

"Tomorrow I'll leave for sure." Chrno narrowed his eyes and cursed them for convincing him.

After the dinner all disappeared into their rooms. Finally in a normal bed again, Chrno realized how tired he was and fell asleep.

The next morning they woke up with a bad surprise. Because of the abrupt change of weather between the continent and Krefya, the extremely cold water and the freezing wind, Chrno had gotten a high temperature and had to stay in bed.

He was not the only one though. All apostles had caught a cold; they didn't have a fever though.

With the bunch of ill people Steiner had a lot of work to do and called some help. A doctor also came. He gave them some medicine which unluckily didn't work with demons.

On top of that Sathella had a crush on Chrno and played his nurse… er, actually she was only hugging and choking him all the time with the sentence "Love heals anything."

Giving her a deadly glare Rosette sat next to them with a bowl of cold water and a little piece of cloth.

"Don't you think that's enough now?" The blonde asked annoyed.

"Nooo~" Sathella sing-sang.

"Can't breathe…" Chrno's face was already blue.

"That's enough." Rosette muttered to herself, got up and NOOGIE ATTACK.

Screaming Sathella ran off to the bathroom to brush her now messy hair.

Chrno let out a sigh lay down on his pillow and closed his eyes. "Why does anything have to go wrong at the moment? Actually I should already be on my way now…"

"Don't even dare to get out of the bed now or I'll bring you back myself." Rosette warned him and placed the cold cloth on his forehead. She hesitated a little before she wanted to pull her hand back. Chrno caught her hand though and held it to his face.

"You smell so good…" He whispered lowly. It was nice to feel her warmth.

"Uh, thanks…" She stuttered and blushed.

Footsteps were heard outside and Rosette pulled her hand out of his and looked embarrassed away.

In that moment Sathella entered the room again. Rosette got up and dragged the wildly protesting Sathella outside. "He needs to sleep. Leave him alone." Rosette snapped and closed the door behind them. After making sure Sathella was far enough away, she went down the corridor and went into her brother's room.

She was worried about him. He had always been sick. Hopefully the cold didn't have any bad consequences…

In the afternoon the apostles Lydia and Nathan who weren't so sick prepared to leave. They wanted to be home soon.

They thanked to everyone and said farewell. The demonic messenger took off to his home country again. He also took little Shader with him because her parents had to be sick of worries.

Meanwhile Azmaria was helping Steiner with the afternoon tea. It was some special herb tea which was good against sicknesses.

The dinner was smaller today because no one was really hungry and they went to bed early.

Rosette closed her window. Who had opened it anyways? Wasn't it cold enough in her room? She changed into her night gown and ran over the cold flood to her warm bed.

It didn't take long until she fell asleep.

Suddenly she was woken up by a sneeze in the middle of the night. Startled she sat up straight.

"Sorry I didn't want o wake you up." A person sitting next to her bed said.

"Oh god, Chrno! You gave me a heart attack!" Rosette placed a hand on her chest and breathed in deeply. Then she lay back again. "What are you doing here anyways?"

Chrno turned his head and rested it on the mattress so he could look her in the eyes. "Couldn't sleep… wanted to smell you scent… I don't know."

"Awwww" Rosette smiled at him and remembered something. "For how long have you been sitting here? The floor is too cold! And you are already sick." With that she sat up again.

"Hm…" It took some time until he answered. "Quite a while. But I feel better tonight. And I don't mind the cold… If your suggesting me to return to my room then the answer is no." He closed his eyes.

Suddenly he felt something next to him. He looked up.

Rosette sat down next to him and pulled the thick eiderdown over them.

"I know so…" She rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep again.

The next morning she woke up and turned around in her bed. Hu? Why was she in her bed again? She leaned on her elbows and blinked with her eyes. The light coming from outside was bright. She got up and made herself ready for the day.

Obviously she even had overslept breakfast, her favourite meal…

The girl hurried downstairs and found her friends packing some stuff.

"Finally you woke up! You're sleeping like a rock, you know? Nobody could wake you up!" Joshua complained about his sister. "There." He gave her a bag. "We're leaving soon. Pack your stuff."

"What? Now? So early?"

"Yes. Shall I help you, Rosette?" Azmaria had already finished packing her stuff and brought a box with some cookies in it to Rosette. "Here I made them myself this morning. I thought it would be nice to have some cookies during the journey."

Rosette thanked her and inquired about where Chrno was.

"Chrno sweetheart already left, buhuhuuuuu…" Sathella was inconsolable.

"Yeah, he already left early this morning. He's in a hurry, you have to understand, Rosette…" Joshua added because Sathella didn't say any more usable things.

"Without telling me goodbye? He's getting a big noogie attack for that…" All took some steps away from the mad Rosette. Nobody wanted to be the next noogie victim.

Anyways, they would be travelling by horse carriages. Because they didn't need to take the roundabout way to the huge library, the way wasn't as far as it been when Rosette came to the harbour. It would take about the same time though because the carriages were slower than the direct air line.

Chrno had hurried up a lot. He had flown over the landscape in an incredible speed. Moreover there wasn't any additional weight like Rosette which slowed him down and he could take the direct way.

It was worth the effort and Chrno arrived late in the evening at the royal summer residence. There it took some time until he could speak to the king.

Finally he got his audience with the king and explained the situation to him.

A worried frown appeared on the older man's face.

"I really appreciate your help. But if the demonical troops are really so strong we have to have a really good plan…"

"Yes, my Lord." Chrno answered politely.

Vinsent sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Very well then, I will think of something and discuss it with the senate. I have to ask you to stay until we came to a proper solution."

"As you wish, my Lord." Chrno replied again politely. He didn't like the thought of staying here longer at all. He needed to go home and help Aion. The whole thing had only one positive aspect and that was that he was able to Rosette soon. It had been a difficult decision for him that he left without telling her goodbye.

Someone knocked on the door and a young blonde man entered the room. Chrno guessed that he was one or two years older than him. The man bowed and began to speak. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, my king. But there is a messenger from earl Clinso waiting. He said it's urgent."

"Ah, earl Remington." Vinsent greeted him. "What a good coincidence that you came. I think you don't know our ally from the demonic side yet."

"No, I don't think so." The one called Remington said and turned to Chrno.

The king introduced them.

Remington and Chrno shook hands.

"Juan Remington."

"Chrno."

The demon didn't like that person… There was something in his eyes he didn't like.

Remington said goodbye, bowed and left the room again.

"Although he's still young, that man has a great potential. I have great plans for his carrier. I think he'll make a good general. What do you say about him?" The king explained him, folded his hands and waited for Chrno to answer.

"I can not tell something like that because I don't know that person." Chrno replied trying to make no mistakes. He saw the expression in the king's face and added quickly. "But I am sure that you've made a good decision, your majesty."

Pleased with that answer Rosette's father leaned back in his he chair.

**AN:** okay, if you should wonder: Remington is in this fanfic between 18 and 20 years old. And not only the king has planes with him, I have my plans too… oh my… now it's too obvious I think… Well, if you still don't know what I want him to do, then you have to wait…


	41. VII Chapter 41

**Chapter 41:**

„When are we there?" Rosette asked impatiently. The ride on the carriage was a torture. It was so slow! The blonde nearly despaired and tipped with her fingernails on the wooden frame of the window.

"Can you please stop that? It makes me nervous, Rosette." Sathella asked her and rubbed her temple. The jewel witch came with them. She was curious how things were going on and she didn't have anything better to do at all.

Rosette sighed and apologized.

The carriage stopped and the carriage driver opened the door. They would take a break here.

Rosette complained again. She wanted to go forward, not to rest. With her bad mood she let the others know what she was thinking.

Finally after a long time they arrived at their destiny.

Vinsent and his wife welcomed them. They were happy to have their two children back, though Rosette had an argument with her father about running away to rescue her brother and that she could have gotten hurt and all the stuff.

Exhausted she went into her room and closed the door. Eventually she was home again… in her own room with her own bathroom… bath… that was a great idea. The girl hurried into the bathroom where she found the bathtub filled with nice hot water with pink lather.

"Ha, lucky me." She grinned and took off her clothes.

After taking the bath she went to her closet and opened it. There were again some new dresses in it.

"Hu, yeah, I really love here." She pulled on a golden rope which was connected to a bell in the servants' room. Like that she called a maid to help her with her dress.

With the maid's help she took on one of the new dresses and had the corset laced.

And now that the maid was here, she should do Rosette's hair as well.

Rosette thanked her, the maid bowed and left.

After putting on some make-up, she went out of her room and towards the court. It was already evening and dinner would be served soon. Rosette looked up in the nightsky and noticed the light coming from her father's office. He was probably in a discussion.

Rosette sighed and brushed her blonde bangs out of her face. She began to wonder what Chrno was doing now. She was pretty sure he was already in his home country. She had hoped to meet him here, but the journey had taken too long.

She sighed again and brushed the stupid hair again away.

All of a sudden someone gripped her hand and pulled her into the shadow of a pillar.

"Hello, my love." Chrno purred in her ear and kissed her gently.

"Do you always have to give me a heart attack?" Rosette whispered relieved.

"Not happy to see me?" Chrno asked with a faked pout and pulled her closer.

"Of cause I'm happy, bu-", She was cut of by another kiss and leaned with her back against the pillar.

Joshua leaned with his head on his hand and suppressed a yawn. His father had asked him to join the discussion since he was old enough now. But it was so boring.

Except for him and his father there were four other people: one commander, two generals and Remington.

Joshua decided to open one of the windows to air the room because it was stuffy. The handle snapped and a nice cold wind came through the gap. Joshua looked outside and he saw Rosette walking over the court.

Ah, right. It had to be dinner time soon. Then he would be freed of this discussion of boredom. He wanted to close the curtain again, but he stopped as someone pulled Rosette away.

Joshua narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out what was going on.

And there she was. His sister kissing the demon. Shocked Joshua looked down. He couldn't believe that. Okay, he had known before that Rosette liked Chrno, but not that much! And what would their father say to that? That would cause trouble. For sure.

"Joshua. What is so interesting outside?" The king's strong voice interrupted the blonde boy. Quickly Joshua turned around and closed the curtain abruptly. "There were… uh… there were three shooting stars at the same time…" He lied and what a bad lie it was.

His father looked sternly at him. "Stop this childish stargazing and concentrate on our topic." He ordered.

"Yes, father."

The bell of a little chapel rang telling everyone that it was now time for dinner.

Giggling Rosette pushed Chrno away and hurried with him towards the dining room. Halfway Rosette remembered that she had promised to pick Sathella up at her room for dinner. The blonde said byebye to Chrno and went to Sathella's room which wasn't far away. Meanwhile Chrno entered the dining room.

It was better not to see them together anyways…

After dinner Chrno came over to Rosette's room of cause without anyone seeing him.

Rosette organized some mild wine for them and they had a nice evening sitting on the couch and chatting.

"Oh, Chrno dear, I just remembered something." Rosette grinned at him and put her glass down.

"And what is i-" Before he could finish the sentence the blonde started a noogie attack. "OUCH – OUCH – OUCH!"

When she was finished she sat down next to him again. "Puh." She brushed her blonde hair away.

"What was that for?" Chrno pouted and rubbed his head.

"That was for leaving the harbour without saying goodbye." She put her hands on her hips. "I really thought that I wouldn't see you again." The blonde added. "I also thought that you would already be at your home. Why did you stay?"

"To see you again."

"Then you could have stayed at the harbour too. I can fool myself, sweetheart. Stop the sweet-talk." She smiled creepily.

"Okay, okay. It was worth a try." He poured some more wine in his glass and took a sip. "Now really. Your father asked me to stay until he finished the discussions with the senate and so on. I don't like that very much, but couldn't say no to your father, could I?"

"And we can see each other again."

"Of cause, that's the most important." He put his glass on the table again and leaned over to her. "Or not?"

"Sure." She smiled and they began to kiss.

The next morning Rosette entered the breakfast hall with a scarf. As Azmaria asked her about it she said that she got a cold over night. Now her throat was sore. Therefore she got some herb tea with her breakfast.

It was a little bit to hot and she burned her lip. And the tea was too strong. Breakfast wasn't so tasty today at all.

Rosette decided to have a little walk through the gardens later in the morning. All trees had lost her leaves already. There were also some evergreen bushes. The beautiful rose bushes lost their beauty too.

Rosette looked sadly at the bushes. She had always loved roses.

"You know, your name really matches to you." Chrno said from behind and startled her. "You're as beautiful as a rose, but you've your thorns too. The only difference is that you don't fade away in winter…"

She turned around and smiled him. "What a nice compliment. But I really need to get used to you appearing out of nowhere, hu?"

He chuckled and touched one of the winter dead rose bushes. The branch he had touched began to glow. Some leaves came out of it and a new red blossom appeared. Chrno picked it up and held it to his girlfriend. "Flower?"

Happily Rosette took it from him. "Hey, I didn't know you were such a sweet-talking gentleman." She chuckled and smelled on the flower.

"Awww, of cause I am!" He told her and thought for a second. "And I have a little poet too!

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?  
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.  
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,  
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.  
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,  
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;  
And every fair from fair sometime declines,  
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.  
But thy eternal summer shall not fade  
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;  
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,  
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,  
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,  
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

He ended his poem and grinned at her.

"You cheater! That's not by you! That's Shakespeare's 18th sonnet!" She laughed and punched him at his arm.

"Hey! That was not very ladylike!" The demon complained. He chatted with her some more time. Then he noticed her scarf as well. "Apropos, I heard you caught a cold. It doesn't seem to be bad though. Or is it?" A worried frown appeared on his face.

"What?" She looked surprised at first. "Oh, oh, you mean that! No, actually I'm not sick."

Chrno raised one eyebrow. "Why the thick scarf then?"

Rosette punched his arm again. "That is all your fault." She hissed and pulled the scarf down. Her neck was covered with some bruises. "What do you think the people would say if they saw me with the neck full of love-bites?" She punched his arm a third time. "As I said. Your fault."

"Sorry…"

Rosette put her scarf back. She asked Chrno something, but instead of answering her question he called her attention to a coming person. Chrno said goodbye to Rosette and went away.

The coming person was a young man. He introduced himself as Juan Remington to her and started talking to her. He also left her ten minutes later because he had some business to do.

Rosette went over in one of the buildings and visited Azmaria.

Then it was already time for dinner.

Like always for dinner there was a lot of food on the table. Today's speciality was goose filled with various vegetables.

Vinsent hold a speech, told how happy he was that his children had survived their adventure and said that he was going to announce something special after dinner.

"Cheers!" All called after the finished speech.

The clatter and rattle of cutlery and glasses filled the room as well as the voices of the people did. All in all, the atmosphere in the room was happy and relaxed, just great.

Everybody was chatting, laughing and having fun.

Then it was already time for dessert. That was the best. It consisted of some vanilla pudding with hot cherry sauce. (AN: *drools* wanna have that too!)

Vinsent waited for everyone to eat up and hit his glass with the spoon. The loud shrill sound made everyone look at the king. He smiled gently at all of them and got up from his seat.

"Thank you for joining my little party today." He began to speak loudly. "With relief we welcomed our crown prince and princess. I happy that they didn't suffer any injuries." Some people cheered and stopped as Vinsent lifted both his hands. " Furthermore I have to announce that the war between the human and demonic kingdom could start in any moment and I ask you to be alerted." One of the older generals who had already drunk too much roared. "But!" Vinsent raised his voice. "Not all demons are our enemies. The Southern county will be on our side." The kind looked over to Chrno who nodded. "Nevertheless we will need all help we can get to win this war. I speak to you truly. We have to fight hard."

Some generals agreed.

"We have already begun with the preparations. Our troops are gathering. The population close to the mountains will be evacuated within the next days." Vinsent sighed and smiled again. "Well, these were the bad news. Of cause after some bad news there will be some good news too. With delight I announce that my dear daughter's 16th birthday is coming soon. Like the custom tells us, she'll be old enough to marry then. I may also announce that I already have found the perfect husband for her." He gestured Remington to get up from his seat as well. "This, my Lords and Ladies, is Juan Remington. I was impressed by this young man's exceptional skills. Additionally will be one of my highest generals in the future."

Rosette fainted while Chrno smashed the vine glass in his hand.

Everyone else applauded. (AN: It seemed to get a little bit boring, so I gave them some new trouble. I'm mean, I know…)

As Rosette woke up again she found herself in her bed. Her father just entered the room.

"Ah, I just wanted to check if you're awake, my dear daughter." He chuckled. "The good new have to have knocked you out, hu?"

"Yeah, you can say that." Rosette said. Panic was rising in her. "Why haven't you told me before? You should have talked to me before!"

"There was no time my dear. And I'm pretty sure Remington matches to you. He's a smart young nobleman who was trained in the Magdalene order as an exorcism specialist. That can be of great use in the coming war. He also has some great strategic skills and makes a good general. Therefore we have to assure his help. Moreover his family is one of the most important in the whole land. Only the best is good enough for you." He smiled at his daughter and stroked over her head. "You look so sad. Is something wrong?"

Rosette shook her head and turned her face away from her father. "I am just surprised. Would you please let me get some rest now?"

Vinsent nodded and went out closing the door softly behind him.

**AN:** Sooo…. *rubs hands* what do you say nooooow? **Don't forget to review!**


	42. VII Chapter 42

AN: You're good girls today. So here's the 4th (?) chapter for today!

**Chapter 42:**

Not much time afterwards the window clapped open and wind blew through it. Startled by the loud sound Rosette sat straight up.

"Damn old loud window." Chrno cursed as he closed it again.

"Chrno?" Rosette whispered and crawled out of her bed.

"Yeah, sorry to wake you up. But I guess we have to talk." With a snip of his finger the candles on the desk began to burn and brought some warm light into the dark room. He took a seat next to it. "Now?"

"What do you mean with 'now'?" Rosette asked and pulled her dressing gown over her simple night gown. Then she sat down on the other chair.

"You know what I mean." His eyes were piercing her. The blonde turned her look away because she couldn't stand those eyes. She took some deep breaths and shook her head. "I don't know. I have no idea. It was not my choice, it's coming too fast… I don't know what to do."

"We've both known that would happen sooner or later. You have your princess duties to fulfil after all. Tell me to stay at your side and I will." He paused shortly. "Tell me to leave and I will." These last words were so difficult to speak. He closed his eyes and tried to control his emotions.

"That's what I told you. But what now? Running away?" Rosette asked him with a low voice.

Chrno slowly shook his head. "In this time of war we can't allow that. We already have endless problems and if your father thinks I kidnapped you, then he will declare war on my county too, it will fall and thousands of lives will be shed away."

Rosette looked sadly to the ground and nodded.

"I guess I have no other choice than to do what I am told to. This is not only something which concerns me, me being a princess it concerns all and I have to do what's best for all." Little sobs escaped her now. "It's too much for me… all the pressure."

"Sure. But the time is running out. You have to choose." He reminded her.

Rosette nodded and stood up. She went to the window and looked down to the court. "What will happen to us when I choose to marry him." She turned around and asked him.

"Well my dear, I guess we won't be able to see each other without causing rumours." Chrno went to her and embraced her from behind. "Though, I will really miss you and your beautiful scent."

"Will you still be on our side during the war?"

Chrno let go of her immediately. He took some steps away.

Unsurely Rosette turned looked at him and asked what's wrong.

"Did you only agree to our little affair because you wanted to assure my help in the war? Answer truthfully please." Anger was in his voice and his eyes were narrow. He regretted that directly. The girl in front of him burst into tears.

"No!" She screamed hoarsely. "No!" She repeated again whispering. "Why are you saying such things?" She cried. "I agreed because I do love you! And I do still love you! I don't want you to leave! But I am already engaged and I can't change that! Only my father can and I am sure he won't!" With that she fell on her knees.

Shocked Chrno knelt down beside her. He didn't want to make her cry! Before he knew what was going on Rosette clung at him and buried her face in his shoulder. Chrno pulled her closer and buried his face in her shoulder too. He had never been in a situation in which it was so difficult to control his emotions. At the moment he felt like crying too.

"I swear, I do love you without a doubt. But I don't have any other choice than to obey my father." Rosette whispered again. Her nails dug deep in his arms. He didn't mind.

"I believe you, but the problem won't change." The devil told her softly and stroked her head.

They stayed silent until both calmed down again.

Then they took their seats on next to the desk again.

"I guess, back to our problem, I guess." Rosette smiled sadly and played with a rose she found on the desk.

Chrno did the same with a deck of cards.

It took him some time to speak. "Let's play a game, my love."

"What? Not now! Chrno! This is a serious matter!" Rosette screamed at him.

"I am serious too. But I need something to distract me or I'll overreact. Keeping the control over myself is pretty difficult his evening." He held the cards to her, so that he didn't see their front. "Draw one."

Rosette looked suspiciously at him, but did as she was told to. Heart Queen.

"Now put it back." Chrno ordered.

"Chrno, we really don't have time for that now!"

"Put. It. Back." He said again. This time more powerful.

Rosette sighed and put it back.

Chrno put all the cards together on a heap. "You know, my dear." He said while mixing the cards. "Doing something with my hands always calmed me down when I was worried. At the moment I'm really worried about you… or us… or whatever." He stopped mixing, looked at her and continued mixing again. "Perhaps you were right with the things you said earlier. You know, I mean that you said you didn't want both our hearts to break. But honestly, even if my heart breaks I will not regret anything and I hope you will not too. You were right when you said that you had your duties to fulfil. But are you really willing to marry a man you don't know?"

"I trust my father. I believe that he wouldn't choose a bad man as my future husband." Rosette said slowly. "I know he only wants best for me. As I already said: I have no other choice than to obey him. I wished we had more time, but it seems like fate doesn't like us."

"You have always a choice." Chrno looked her in the eyes. He put the card deck on the table and took her hand in his. "What ever you choose, you will always be the queen of my heart." He smiled. "Or my heart queen." With his free hand he turned the card on the top around. By the look on Rosette's face he could tell that it was the card she had drawn earlier.

"How did you –" Stunned she pointed at the card.

"That is not important now." He let go of her hand and turned her head around. "Back to the topic. You will always be my heart queen. Even if you decide to marry the fancy diamond king." He turned the next card around. Again he was right. It showed the diamond king. "However, always keep in mind: The club Jack will always be on your side if you call him for help." He pulled her face towards him and kissed her gently while he turned around the third card.

Then he let go of her and stood up. "I'll better go now before they find me here in your room. The doors have ears." He glanced over to the door. A shadow was seen in the gap between door and floor. "I wish you luck and choose wisely. I'm leaving tomorrow early in the afternoon. I'll leave this dagger to you because I know how easily you get into trouble. Goodbye." Turning around on his heel he rammed the dagger from his belt into the desk and vanished through the open window.

Rosette and the cards stayed back.

The blonde looked at the dagger and wanted to pull it out of the wood. Just in that second she realised what a strange picture the cards showed.

On the left was the heart queen, next to her the diamond king, half covering the diamond king there was the club Jack. The dagger stuck in the right corner of the Jack card and pierced the diamond king's heart.

Chrno met Remington in the corridor to his room. The tension between the two was immense.

"General." Chrno greeted him shortly.

"Demon." Remington replied coldly.

The said demon went past the other man who stopped him with his hand. Grounding his teeth the purple head listened to what Remington had to say.

"This is the first and the last warning. Keep your hands away from my fiancée or I'll exorcise you myself. Ten years of training in the Magdalene haven't been for nothing." Remington growled in his ear.

"That decision is not yours. I will only follow her wishes, _general_." Chrno answered pronouncing the word 'general' in a mocking manner. "Good night." He smirked, jostled the blonde out of the way and disappeared behind the door to his room.

Joshua wasn't asleep yet. He wanted to talk to his sister about what he had seen earlier on the court. He had to talk to her urgently. Therefore he waited until everyone was asleep and sneaked to his sister's room. She would be still awake. The boy doubted that she would really sleep after hearing that news.

He arrived at her room and wanted to knock. However, he stopped immediately. Joshua heard some voices from the inside and narrowed his eyes. He knew he shouldn't be spying, nevertheless he leaned with his ear to the door. The voices were too quiet to understand them, but they were arguing for sure. After ten minutes he heard the window clatter and it became silent in the room. Unexpectedly the door was opened and Joshua fell into the doorway. He landed directly in front of Rosette's feet.

She had her arms crossed and glared at him. "And what exactly do you think you are doing here?" The girl hissed at him and watched him standing up.

Joshua stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"Now? Care to explain?" She snapped at him again.

"I could ask you the same." Joshua said and crossed his arms too. "I saw you and Chrno in the court before dinner."

Shocked Rosette removed her arms from their crossed position. "You haven't told anyone, have you?" She wanted to know dismayed.

Joshua shook his head. "No, not yet. But Rosette, the situation has changed since father's announcement. Break up with him. He is a demon and I don't want to get trouble. I do not understand everything what's going on at the moment and I doubt that I really want to know. I also don't know what's going on in you or… or him." Joshua paused shortly. "But you are my sister and I want you to be happy. Please understand that I don't want him to make you sad."

The emotion from earlier came up again in Rosette. She hugged her brother and began to cry again. "It's over anyways!" She wailed.

"What? Who broke up?" Joshua asked surprised.

"I guess the both of us… But I don't want him to go…" Rosette told him between sobs. "If that stupid Remington wouldn't be there, then I could still be happy with Chrno! I really do love him and so he does. I don't wanna be a princess anymore. I don't wanna that pressure on my shoulders. I want to be free and with the person I love. I don't care if he's a demon."

"Rosette, it didn't have a sense from the beginning on. He's leaving tomorrow and then you wouldn't see him again anyways." Joshua stroked her head. He began to try to convince her that she had chosen the right way of leaving Chrno.

It didn't work though. The contrary was the case. Rosette just regretted that choice more and more. Holding her brother helped her much. It was nice to have someone to talk to in those times.

"I want to turn the time back… I want to tell Chrno not to leave… I don't want to marry Remington." Rosette continued wailing.

Joshua explained her that that was impossible and that she couldn't change her decisions now. Their father wouldn't too. He would never allow Rosette to reject her fiancé in order to fall in love with a demon.

There was no use. It was like it was now and it wouldn't change.

After Rosette had calmed down, Joshua said goodbye and left the room.

The next morning was cold, but the sky was clear. It wouldn't take a long time until the first snow would fall though.

Rosette saw the morning light coming through the window and pulled the blanket over her head. She wouldn't go out of her bed today, that was sure.

A maid disturbed her however. She told the princess to get up and put on her warm clothes. They were in a hurry, although the maid didn't know why. As she was told to, the blonde got ready and followed the maid outside.

In one of the corridors she met Joshua who greeted her excitedly. He ordered the maid to go and grinned at Rosette.

"What?" Rosette snapped with a visibly bad mood.

"You know. I couldn't stand your sadness last night. I was thinking the whole night long about a way to make you happy again." He looked around to make sure that no one was there who could listen to their conversation. He also lowered his voice. "I couldn't change father's mind this morning, but I was able to obtain some more time for you and your sweetheart without Remington next door."

"WHAT?" Rosette shrieked happily.

Joshua shhhed at her and told her to be quiet.

"Sorry. I mean: what? And how?" The blonde girl repeated more quietly.

**AN:** I really enjoy writing cliff hanger… mwahaha


	43. VII Chapter 43

**Chapter 43:**

_Flashback_

Earlier in the same morning.

Joshua got ready and hurried into the king's office. He greeted him politely and began directly to explain his wish. "Cancel the engagement between Rosette and Remington."

"What?" Vinsent growled at him.

"Rosette is very unhappy because she doesn't know her future husband and she doesn't feel ready for such an important step in her life." Okay, now Joshua was sure that his actual plan wouldn't work. He already knew that he could not convince his father with this sort of arguments.

"No, she is old enough now and if she doesn't know him then she'll have to get to know him. It was nothing different between your mother and me. As a noblewoman it is not up to her to decide when or who she marries and that is my last word to that topic." Vinsent leaned back in his seat and folded his hands on the desk. "Is there something else you want to ask me, son?"

"You should send Rosette to the Southern demon county."

Vinsent split his coffee over the desk and stared at his son. "Are you crazy? At first you don't want her to get a good husband and know you want that? That land is full of dangerous creatures who wish the death to us anyways. How can you be so cruel and wish for your sister to go there?" The older man said sternly and narrowed his eyes.

Joshua breathed deeply. All his courage was necessary to contradict his father. "Of cause I do not wish her to die. No, that would be the last thing I want." He went over to the desk and leaned on it. "But it would get us a military advantage."

"Why do you think that?" The king asked calmly and changed his position in the big chair.

"Well, Rosette is able to speak the demonic language." – Vinsent raised an eyebrow – "If we send a member of the royal family over there to our demonic allies, she could hold a speech and encourage them to fight for us."

His father thought for a second and asked what would happen to Rosette if the war began. The place Joshua wanted to send her to was directly at the front. Rosette could get hurt or even die during the battle.

Joshua thought for a second before he spoke. He had to choose his words rightly. "I assure you that she won't be hurt, father, because she is with Lord Chrno. During the time he was with our group he proofed that he is able to protect the royal family."

Vinsent stayed silent and stared into empty space. Finally he looked at Joshua again. "So you think you're sister is old enough to hold a speech in front of a demonic army, but not to marry?" The king frowned. "But it is true what you say… She could try to win their trust and their support for us. But –" He got up from his seat and pointed with his finger on Joshua. "Afterwards she has to get marry with Remington. Then I don't want to hear any buts again."

"As you wish, majesty." Joshua said relieved. "I will tell her the news." He bowed and went with fast steps out of the room. He ordered some servants and ordered to prepare anything. Now he had to find both, Chrno and Rosette.

Rosette was the first he met on the corridor. He told her the good new and her happy face made his day.

Chrno went upstairs on the second floor. He was called into the king's office and he didn't know why. Hopefully there weren't any complications. He knocked and entered the room.

"Your majesty." He bowed. "General." He gave a short nod to Remington who was leaning on a bookshelf.

"Come and take a seat. There are some important changes in our plan." Vinsent watched the demon with strict eyes. Remington only glared at him.

Chrno felt uneasy with Remington's stares on his back. But he waited patiently for the man in front of him to continue.

"I know you are about to leave this afternoon. After a discussion with my son and afterwards with some other important man, I've made the decision to send my dear daughter to your county as a representative of our kingdom. She shall be a sign to your people to trust us. I must ask you to protect her from any harm or I will declare war on your county too. When the war is over her fiancé will bring her back and they will get married. Do you agree to that?"

'_I agree to everything except for the 'marry Remington' part_' Chrno thought. He knew he couldn't say these words without getting into trouble and nodded. "As you wish. It would be an honour."

Chrno was allowed to leave now and did so.

Before he could exit the building, Remington caught up with him.

"May I have a talk to you, please." The blonde said coldly.

"I am not in the mood to talk to you now." Chrno answered him with a not so polite undertone in his voice. He took a step forward and Remington stepped in front of him.

"I'm warning you again." He growled. "Keep you devil claws away from Rosette. I will absolutely not appreciate it if you taint her. She is not to be the concubine of some demon." He hissed and threatened him again that he would kill him if he did something to her.

"I already told you. That decision is not yours. It is hers." Chrno smirked at him. "And watch your tongue. You are talking to the leader of your allies."

"If it was me I had never agreed to this alliance. Sooner or later they will see your true nature."

Chrno bared his fangs and growled at him. "But it was not you. And now. Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

Remington stayed still for a second, but then he stepped aside. Both glared at each other for several second before Chrno continued his way to the court. There he met Rosette who was really happy today.

"Seems like I've made my decision, hu?" She chirped. "At least for now." The blonde smiled brightly.

"_You know, I would really like to hug and kiss you right now… Unfortunately that's not possible in public._" He smiled at her and they went to one of the other buildings.

Rosette nodded. She noticed that he was kinda nervous too. "You look stressed. Is something wrong?"

Chrno shook his head and rolled his eyes. "It's only that I just had a little conversation with your dear fiancé." Chrno grimaced. "Seems like he doesn't like me very much." He chuckled. "Oh, I have no idea why that could be." Rosette giggled and sighed afterwards. "Hey, which reminds me of something… I haven't even really talked to him and the two seconds of talk in the garden don't count… Oh, great." Some blonde bangs fell into her face. She blew it away. "Let's leave that place quickly. I do not wish to talk to him anyways."

They parted again to pack the stuff they needed. Humming a song Rosette pulled her favourite dress out of the drawer. While she collected the rest of the stuff she needed the time passed by soon. A short time before she went downstairs, a maid came and brought her a thick fur coat. It was white with some black dots. Additional to that there was a hat of the same material. They should keep her warm on a journey. It was winter after all.

Another servant came and took her luggage downstairs. Rosette followed him.

Outside the others were already waiting.

Rosette hurried over to them. She said goodbye to her family and friends and hugged them all.

Sathella also gave her a diamond ring. It was one of her jewel witch tools and should protect her from harm. The blonde thanked her and put it on.

Rosette heard horses coming and turned around.

Chrno came with three shadow horses. One of them was for the luggage.

He handed her the reins of her horse and helped her to climb on it. Afterwards he got on his own one. They said goodbye one last time and exited the castle through the huge gate.

"Why are we riding horses anyways? Wouldn't it be faster to fly?" Rosette asked after they left the castle behind.

"Remember that it is better if they don't see us close together. Remington is already suspicious enough. We have to take care around them." Chrno explained her. He also suggested that they could fly after they had brought enough distance between them and the castle.

In contrast to the weather in the morning, the sky was now of a light grey colour and the first snow flakes began to fall down.

"Look!" Rosette exclaimed happily. She caught a snow flake with her right hand. As soon as it touched the warm skin it melted.

Chrno didn't seem to be so enthusiastic about that. If it was turning into a snow storm they had a problem. The devil suggested to hurry up and made his horse gallop. Rosette followed his example and with high speed they were rushing through the landscape. Because the shadow horses didn't need to rest they could gallop for a long time. After one hour they were already several miles away from their starting point.

Chrno reined his horse and jumped down. "We're going to fly now. Get off the horse."

The blonde did so and soon she found herself in Chrno's arms, now flying high in the air.

Rosette was happy that she wore her warm clothes. It was so damn cold, plus the air in the height was even colder.

They were flying through the night too. In the next morning they already arrived on the foot of the bordering mountains.

Chrno's eyes sparkled slightly. Behind these mountains was home… home sweet home…

Before crossing the mountains they took a little break to have breakfast. They landed on the well-known little clearing. Childhood memories were coming to the surface again.

"Ey, Rozetta!" Chrno called her. "Remember that?" He asked and drew something on the ground with a stick.

"Sure!" Rosette smiled brightly. "We used to explain the words on that way!" Grinning she went over to him and snapped the stick out of his hands. Then she drew something on the ground to. "Heart." She said and pointed to her picture.

"Nope. Love." He corrected her and embraced her tightly.

She buried her face in his chest. "I'm afraid of what might happen after the war ended…" She suddenly said sadly.

Chrno didn't know what to answer her so he stayed quiet for a while. His good mood was gone now too. Eventually he sighed. "It's not after the war yet, so I don't care right now." He gave her a little kiss on the cheek. "Let's get going again." He scooped her in his arms and took off.

Without any disturbs they made their way over the mountains. Then it only took a very little while until they landed in the big demonic castle.

Some servants who were walking over the court threw some glanced at them as they landed. Not much time afterwards Aion walked out of a big door. With fast steps he approached them. "Finally you're back, Chrno!" He called loudly. "Princess." He said more calmly to Rosette and bowed. Then he turned around to Chrno again. "We've to talk. Now." He told him sternly. Chrno nodded and told a maid to show Rosette her room.

While Rosette followed the maid, Chrno followed Aion into the office. The door wasn't even closed, but Aion already began to talk very fast, explaining him everything what had happened in the Lords' council. Chrno listened to him carefully, agreeing from time to time.

When Aion had finished the purple haired demon stayed silent for a while.

_Flashback:__ (Little Aion special for Mariam)_

"That is a case for Pandemonium." DeFaux said dangerously. "If you don't decide to be on our side within the next two days, I will declare war on you too."

Aion gulped. Even though he still wore his poker face, he was damn scared in the inside. All other Lords were growling at him. All of them were more experienced in fights and older. On top of all DeFaux wanted to ask Pandemonium for advice…

Aion got his speech again. "Do whatever you think is right. And so will I do. And I say, no war." He was standing by now with his fist in the air.

DeFaux smirked evilly. "Your choice. See you in two days." Suddenly the older man vanished.

The other lords and generals mumbled something to each other before they vanished as well.

As soon as they were gone Aion fell down to his knees and dug his claws into the ground…

No, not Pandemonium…

Two days later DeFaux really returned. Along with him several soldiers. "Now, what is your answer."

Aion bit his lip. Trying to seem self-confident he took some steps forward. His voice was loud and powerful when he spoke. "We have already suffered enough from war and fights! It has taken lots of time to recover from our last war and my people are tired of fighting! They want to rest! We strive not for war! We just crave to have our homes! We just seek to have the rights our fathers used to have!" (used some lyrics of Essence of Ashes by Eluveitie)

Aion's soldiers roared in agreement. That gave Aion more strength and his voice was even louder than before. "We want to live in peace in our homes! We want to have to right to decide whether we want to fight or not! We want to have the right to live in peace!"

The soldiers in the background roared loudly again.

Suddenly DeFaux appeared right behind Aion. He held his sword to the younger one's throat. "Wrong decision. Now, will you accompany us to Pandemonium?" DeFaux snarled.

Aion gulped. At the moment he didn't saw a way to get out of DeFaux' grip.

Aion's soldiers attacked DeFaux's. In the chaos DeFaux disappeared with Aion.

There was only blackness around Aion. Then the blackness vanished. Instead he found himself inside of a big crystalline castle. The white haired demon looked around. "Oh no…"

DeFaux wasn't next to him anymore. He stood in a little distance next to a staircase which led to a huge statue. The man bowed. "I brought the traitor, your majesty."

An earthquake shook the whole ground and Aion stumbled backwards. Suddenly the stone of the huge statue fell off revealing a huge body. The creature was huge and with many demonic feature, but there was the torso of a female human on top of it. The woman was beautiful with long bluish hair. She had two very long horns.

"Pandemonium…" Aion breathed quietly.

"Who has awakened me from my sleep?" Pandemonium growled.

Aion backed further away.

"This traitor revolts against the whole demonic kingdom and even you government, highness." DeFaux spoke loudly.

Aion gulped. Pandemonium was coming closer, but he knew he had to stand his ground now.

Pandemonium came very close with her face towards Aion. "Is that so? Then repeat that to me, young one."

Aion stared at her. "The revolution will bring peace to all. The Lords will fall and new ones will replace them. We just want our peace, but if we have to fight for it, then we will. Being in war with the humans is no solution. They lived there already that long. They already have the right to claim the land as their own. Why are we fighting with them? We can peacefully live together."

Pandemonium smirked. "So, so, the Lords will fall." She snarled at him. "The humans caused much pain for us, they have to be punished. This is the will of you queen. Will you obey to it?"

"Never. Never ever will I obey to a queen that does not care for the health of her people." Aion snarled threateningly. Then he assaulted Pandemonium with his claw.

His claw hit her body, but then something unexpected happened. Pandemonium began to laugh loudly. Aion's hand stuck in her body and her body started to absorb him.


	44. VII Chapter 44

**Chapter 44:****  
**

(still flashback and Aion special… I think Mariam has a bad influence on me)

Panicked Aion stared into Pandemonium's eyes. "Release me." He snarled at his queen.

Pandemonium growled back.

Then she ribbed his arm off. A terrible breaking sound echoed through the hall along with Aion's scream. DeFaux was sitting on the staircase and smirked.

Warm blood was flowing out of the wound. Aion tried to stop the bleeding with his hand, but it had no use. He cursed and changed into his true for. To his surprise the wound did not heal immediately.

Pandemonium smiled. "I am your queen. I have control over all of your legions."

Aion's eyes widened. That was no good. Pandemonium attacked again. This time Aion managed to jump out of the way, but he was pierced from behind. The demon felt how his stomach was pierced and how the stomach acid burned him from the inside.

Then he was thrown against the wall. The spot where he hit it had a huge blood stain on it afterwards. Aion gasped. He landed on his back and turned around to his stomach. With a shaking hand and shaking knees, he tried to get up again. He was too slow.

Pandemonium already launched one more attack. This time she tore Aion's side, afterwards his chest.

Aion's view already blurred red. And still, he was unable to use astral to heal himself.

"Are you giving up?" Pandemonium purred.

"Revolution." Aion whispered.

The next thing he felt were Pandemonium's hands on each side of his head.

A huge pain shot through him and he was seeing pictures in his head. The pictures showed all of his beloved ones as they were tortured and killed. Blackness engulfed him and he was all alone. No, he was not all alone. All around him were the corpses of his friends. There was Chrno, their mother, Rizelle, other dear friends, even their cousin Shader.

Aion screamed loudly and clutched his head. He tore on his own hair.

"See, nobody's here to support you. You're all alone with your revolution." Pandemonium purred in his head.

"NO!" Aion screamed loudly. He tried to crawl away, but in the blackness he couldn't move.

"No! Don't take them away from me!" He wailed.

When he looked around himself he found the corpses of his dears lying closer to him. Seeing the masks of death upon their faces made him sick. He felt like throwing up in every second.

A fiery pain shot through his body.

All of a sudden one corpse after the other vanished. Aion looked around and whimpered.

Suddenly their ghosts appeared around him. In a circle they flew around him. "It's your fault, your fault." They spoke in chorus. "You did it, you kill us."

"Your fault, your fault, your fault, your fault. Because of your damn revolution. It's your fault." Now they stopped speaking in unison, they spoke in canon giving it a creepy tune.

Aion's head was spinning around and he had to clasp his hand over his ears. Nevertheless he didn't stop screaming.

Suddenly he felt a warm touch on his cheek and a familiar voice spoke to him. He couldn't understand the words, but they definitely were familiar.

His eyes shot opened and he awoke from his trance. The blackness that had engulfed him wasn't there anymore.

Though it was still dark. It was night and he realized where he were. He was in some kind for torture chamber or dungeon. With chains on his feet he hung down from the ceiling upside down. The blood from his arm had already created a big puddle underneath him.

It made a little slashing sound when the person in front of him moved.

"Shhh, you're not alone." The familiar voice said.

Aion's eyes widened. "Is it really you or are you only an illusion like the others?" his voice was weak, but with a glimpse of hope.

"It really is me." Rizelle said and kissed his lips shortly. Then she went over to where the chains were tied. Carefully she tried to let him down from the ceiling. Unfortunately he was too heavy and she couldn't hold his weight. While he crashed to the ground, Aion could feel one of two more rips breaking.

Rizelle gasped and hurried over to him. She knelt down next to him in the puddle of blood. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" She whispered. The girl embraced him and pulled him up to his feet. Then she put his remaining arm around her shoulder and supported him outside, almost dragged him.

Rizelle carefully looked around on the corridor. If someone found them, they'd be dead. Her father didn't even knew she was there... She had simply followed him because she had been so worried about Aion. If he found her here together with Aion, he'd be furious.

Two dead soldiers were lying in front of the dungeon. They had been the guards that Rizelle had killed.

In the corridor there were some torches that spend some light.

In the (still) dim light Aion could see that Rizelle also didn't wear her usual clothes like dress and so on. She wore tight black trousers with some boots. Her shirt was black as well. It had a tight armour like protector in front of her chest. On the big belt around her waist was an épée/ thin sword (what's its name?). Her hair was loose as always.

"Hm, I haven't known that side of you before." Aion joked. He smiled slightly. But his face still told her that he was in pain.

Rizelle smiled softly at him. "It's not the side I'm showing very often." She countered.

Together they went down the corridor until they arrived in another hallway. Rizelle looked around. There were many doors and three staircases. "Oh no…"

"Don't tell me you don't know where the exit is." Aion pleaded her.

"…" Rizelle huffed. "When I came here it looked totally different! They can change the rooms and corridors!"

A sound was heard in the distance. Suddenly soldiers appeared all around them.

Startled Rizelle looked around. She drew her sword while she held Aion with the other hand.

Aion didn't want that though. He pushed her away from him because he already knew that both of them would die if they fought like that.

Rizelle glanced worriedly at him. He gave her a sad smile and dodged as the first one attacked. Other attacks followed.

Aion was hurt, he couldn't bear it anymore. Rizelle was hurt as well. The latest strike brought her to the ground.

Aion couldn't hold it anymore. His pulse was racing as well as his mind. Being hurt and in danger he did the same any demon would do. His mind switched to instinct mode and he went berserking. Pandemonium lost control over his legion and it went wild. A new arm shot out of the wound and he flexed his claws. Blood splashed everywhere when the soldiers were torn apart.

In horror Rizelle looked at him. Though she found it more terrible that there were still new soldiers coming. One of them hit her hard on the side. She snarled at him and decided to follow Aion's example.

The battle took hours because more and more soldiers had come. Pandemonium's attention was also drawn towards the two berserking demons.

Finally Aion and Rizelle burst through the last door. Unfortunately it led them directly into the huge demon claws of Pandemonium. Pandemonium had firm grip around Rizelle. She squeezed her tightly between her hands making the weaker female scream out loudly.

Aion growled threateningly at the queen. "Don't you dare to hurt my love." He snarled and bared his fangs. The young demon hated the fact that he himself was caught as well and he couldn't help his friend.

The breaking of some rips was heard when the grip around them tightened again. Rizelle screamed. It hurt.

Aion's eyes began to glow dangerously. Suddenly Pandemonium's claw around Rizelle exploded. "WHAT?" The queen screamed. "BUT HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?"

Rizelle fell down, but she landed on the ground supplely. With a drawn sword she stormed towards Pandemonium and rammed it into her body.

The claw around Aion exploded as well. He shot forward. "Off with her head." He hissed and the head fell down.

Plong.

It hit the ground. Rizelle stabbed it and it burst into dust.

Shocked Rizelle looked at Aion. "We killed the queen…." She whispered.

Aion looked at her with the same expression. "We gotta get outta here."

Just in that moment the door was slammed open. It was DeFaux. Horrified he stared at them.

There was the dead body of the queen, the head missing. On each side of her stood a demon, all covered with blood be it their own blood or the one of someone else.

Worst was that his own daughter was one of the two demons.

Rizelle took some steps back. "F-father…" She stuttered.

DeFaux' head went red of anger.

Aion saw the danger and tried to jump in front of Rizelle.

It was too late though. DeFaux was already close to Rizelle. He raised his hand high.

The sound of the slap was terribly loud and the slap sent Rizelle flying lots of meters away against the wall. "I would've never thought that my own daughter is a dirty traitor like that piece of filth here." DeFaux growled.

Aion jumped at him. With his claws he dug deep wounds into his shoulder and back.

The older demon did not seem to mind. With an easy movement he brushed Aion off and rammed his sword into Aion's chest. Aion howled in pain.

A dull BANG was head. DeFaux collapsed on the floor. He revealed Rizelle who stood behind him with a stone that had broken of the statue earlier. The handprint was still seen on Rizelle's cheek as a red mark. The demoness pulled Aion on his feet and they fled out of the room.

Finally they began to smell fresh air. They followed its scent.

Because of an earthquake a hole in the ceiling revealed the nightsky. Aion scooped Rizelle up in his arms and flew outside. Seconds afterwards the whole palace collapsed. Now there were only ruins left.

Aion sped up and flew away with Rizelle. Within no time the whole kingdom would want their heads.

They hid deep in the mountains and waited there several days long.

One day Aion told Rizelle to wait where she was. He had to go home to administrate his county.

When he returned home, he was surprised that the others celebrated his return. Nobody wanted his head. At least not here. They were happy to have their Lord back who fought for their peace. One day later Chrno returned as well with that princess girl.

_(flashback end)_

"That's just the worst case that could be expected." Chrno said and leaned forward in his seat.

Aion nodded in agreement and crossed his arms. "The Lords meet again this evening. They discuss where and when the battle will begin. We shall join them too. I'm afraid that they will directly kill us, hm, me more precisely." Aion admitted.

Chrno shook his head. "The council meetings are holy. Ancient rules prohibit it to slaughter anyone as long as the meeting takes."

Aion sweat dropped. "You don't really believe they care about that, do you?"

The meeting was in the early evening. To their surprise they really followed the rules. DeFaux glared at Chrno. He assured to kill Aion on the battlefield. Aion himself wasn't there. It was too dangerous for him and Chrno had asked him to stay away because he didn't want his twin to get killed.

The Lords had found another victim except for Aion and were now scolding Chrno. He made his point of view clear and hissed some threats at them.

Aion had told Chrno what to say. Chrno was impressed how good Aion was in creating speeches. He had made the one Chrno was just telling the others after all. He was really the born leader. It had been good to leave the county to Aion – even though he killed the queen.

The meeting took several hours. It ended with the sentence: "War doesn't bring solution. We want to be free! We want to be free to choose whether we want war or peace! I want a revolution of society!"

It did indeed leave an impact in the Lords' minds. Time would show how big the impact had been.

The date for the battle was in the in three days. Until then everything had to be prepared. They also send their fastest messengers down in the south to Vinsent.

Rosette did what she was supposed to do. She held some speeches in front of the highest generals of the southern county. Actually she was planned to hold a speech in front of the Lords too, but Chrno had thought that would have been too dangerous.

After the speech to the generals she held some other speeches in the three biggest villages during the following two day. She also seemed to have success.

Relieved she returned to the castle from the last village. She hoped that she had done her job well… The battle was already tomorrow. Everywhere the demons were occupied with the preparations and such. Rosette sighed as she saw a page with his arm full of swords walking past her.

In the evening she walked through the dark corridors. Although it wasn't very late, the most people already were in bed to get at least some little rest before tomorrow.

Suddenly the door in front of her was opened and Chrno's purple head popped out. "Can't sleep too, hm? I heard ya walking up and down the corridors."

Rosette shook her head and went towards him. "No not really. And I doubt that I'll fall asleep so soon."

Chrno chuckled. "Same here. Come in and drink a wine with me."


	45. VII Chapter 45

**AN:** I'm not good in writing fights, so please excuse me if it gets a little bit short….

**Chapter 4****5:**

The next morning everything was so fast… There wasn't much time for breakfast. The last preparations were done. The whole army of the Southern county had gathered in front of the castle. Then Chrno and Aion led them over the mountains. The battle would be on human land in a valley.

The demonic joined the human army. Chrno talked with Vinsent, suddenly the enemy appeared on the horizon.

The battle was cruel. There were lots of injured and even dead people lying around. In the end the humans won.

Rosette was so happy. Not only because of the victory, but also because her beloved ones had survived.

There was a big feast as soon as they returned home to the summer residence.

Reality caught up with Rosette as she realized that she had to keep the promise she had given to her father about marrying Remington after the fight was won.

Numbly she sat in front of her mirror the next morning. She already wore the big bride dress. A maid was fumbling on her hair and told her how lucky she was.

Rosette nodded emotionless as if she didn't even know what happened around her. She was just staring straight ahead internally crying and screaming.

Her father knocked on the door and picked her up in order to lead her in front of the altar. Like a lifeless doll Rosette was walking beside him.

All the people staring at her in the church made her feel worse. Remington smiled brightly to her when she arrived. Rosette looked shortly at him with big empty eyes. Then she looked at the priest who should marry them. She led her gaze flow over the crowd. She noticed Chrno in the left corner not far away from the door. It meant so much to her that he had come… Tears were starting to rise in her eyes. Sadly she looked at him.

Disappointed Chrno shook his head and turned away from her leaving the church.

"NOOO!" The blonde girl screamed loudly. The scream was terrible loud and the echoes were crashing back from the walls.

"NOOO!" Rosette screamed and pressed her hands onto her face. Heavily breathing her chest rose and fall.

Suddenly she felt that she was hugged tightly. "Shhh. It's okay. Just a bad dream" His soft voice said. With teary eyes she looked up and straight into Chrno's sparkling red eyes.

He rested his head on her shoulder and purred calmly.

Confused she looked over his shoulder. It was neither morning nor the church nor was it after the battle… It was night and they were in bed.

Rosette sighed relieved and snuggled into Chrno's bare chest.

"Go back to sleep, will ya?" He asked her softly and lay down again.

"Hm." Rosette nodded happily and was dozing off again.

(AN: So much to Remington's 'Do not taint her' phrase mwahahaha)

The next day was really very stressful. The silence was suffocating. All people were lost in their thoughts thinking about what might happen if they didn't return after the battle.

Rosette shoved the rest of her breakfast into her mouth and glanced around in the room. Chrno had already left with Aion. They had much to do, for example giving the last instructions to the generals and so on.

Rosette had stayed back in her own room. While she was having breakfast a maid collected all her stuff and packed the luggage. Rosette wasn't to stay here. She was to be brought to a safe place deep within the mountains before the fight started. The blonde didn't like that thought at all. She knew she was strong enough… She knew she was able to fight too. And with her special powers she wasn't weak at all.

Right, she wasn't able to control when the powers showed up, but she was very sure that she would be able to use them in fight. The girl was strong willed. She could do everything if she wanted… also controlling the damn powers. She was pretty sure that this time it would work.

Chrno entered the room to tell her it was time to leave the castle.

They had a little argument because Rosette wanted to stay with him, but in the end the result was still the same.

Rosette nodded sadly.

All of a sudden she yelped and bent down.

The stigmata had begun to bleed again.

"Get some bandages! Now!" Chrno yelled at the servants in the background. They did as their master ordered and the purple haired demon rushed by Rosette's side. The moment he touched her shoulders, many pictures began to spin around in Rosette's head.

She saw a meadow. In the next picture the meadow was covered in red with many bodies lying around, lances sticking in them. Next showed herself in a white sparkling armour, the red blood double-axe in her hands. Then that pic was blurred and a battle field appeared. It was total chaos. Then the picture zoomed in to the one who seemed to be Chrno. The sequences began to skip. The last thing she could recognize for sure was that Chrno was attacked from behind. He was pierced through his body.

Screaming Rosette stopped the vision. She opened her eyes and stared to Chrno who was holding her.

Tears prickled in her eyes. She knew that hadn't just been a normal day-dream. It had been a vision. A bad omen. She was scared. She didn't want anything to happen to her Chrno…

"Rosette, what happened? What did you see? You were saying strange things." Said demon asked her worriedly.

Shivering she clutched her arms. She had to prevent the things she saw…

The blood coming out of the stigmata was sucking into her clothes colouring them red.

Unbelieving she shook her head. "No matter what you say, I will stay by your side. You will not send me away." She whispered. Although she spoke with a very low voice it was very determined. The tune of her voice already told Chrno how serious Rosette was.

"Look, it is too dangerous. I can't let you be there. That would be irresponsible." He explained her calmly and winced as he burned his hand on her blood. Rosette withdrew her hand.

"I know that it is dangerous, that's why I want to go with you." She spun her head around and hissed energetically.

It seemed like blue fire was burning in her eyes. The eyes glowed. She was looking angrily at him. She suddenly shot up on her feet and pointed with her index finger on his chest. "If you saw the same things I did, you wouldn't react like this." Her voice was higher now. "Please understand that I'm scared!" She cried now. "The things I saw really really scared me! But I know I can prevent them! What do you think I had the vision for? Should I rather ignore it?"

Chrno took a step back. He had never seen her that furious. He took a deep breath. "Listen, dear, no matter how much you scream or cry or try to convince me, you will not participate in the battle. Understood?" He said and put some pressure in his voice.

Rosette wanted to open her mouth again. Preventing that, Chrno hugged her tightly, pressing her face onto his shoulder so she wasn't able to speak.

"I cannot have you walk around there. Please understand…" He whispered softly. "I'm sorry… I love you." He held his right hand over her head. "Sleep." The demon felt the body in his arms relax until he carried her whole weight. He had sent her to sleep for a while. She'd be mad at him as soon as she woke though…

He pecked her lips and ordered some maids to take her to the safe place in the mountains. The maids would be her guards at the same time. In the demonic world there wasn't a difference between female and male soldiers.

Aion turned around. He had finished the conversation with the highest general right now.

The young demon sighed and observed the high-ranked soldiers.

So many thoughts were spinning around in his head and he reviewed the exact facts about the battle. It was settles on a human valley. Meeting point was at noon. There would only be this single battle. Nobody knew how long it would take to be finished.

Aion sighed again and pulled his hair into a low ponytail. While fixing it there he went to the parapet of the balcony and glanced down. In front of the castle were thousands of demons. At the moment the generals sorted them into battalions.

He wondered if the other counties had more soldiers… Plus the humans had to have an immense bigger amount of soldiers in order to win.

Aion brushed the loose bangs aside. He went inside asking if Chrno was ready.

Vinsent had gotten the message just in time. Fortunately he had started moving his army earlier. They would be there in time. The mood in the army was depressed. Most of the soldiers already expected the worst because demons were so much stronger than humans.

Suddenly a huge creature appeared at the horizon. The men yelped and pointed their weapons on it.

The creature seemed to be a huge crystal knight. Directly behind him was another one. This one was female.

Both creatures lowered their hands and put their mistresses down. Elegantly moving Sathella and Florette got of the giant hands.

Respectfully the soldiers went out of the way and created a lane towards the king with that.

The two sisters strode towards the king. Three meter in front of him they curtseyed deeply.

"As promised we've come to offer our help." Sathella said politely.

Vinsent gave her a thankful nod. "It is an honour to have you on our sides." With his hands he gestured them where their fighting place would be. The Harvenheits curtseyed again and went there.

Next to Vinsent there were two other blonde men. The one to his left was Joshua, the one to his right Remington.

At the same time Rosette had gotten the vision over there in the demonic land, a vision also reached Joshua. The blonde boy gasped and bent down. Pictures were spinning around in his head. He saw a meadow… then blood covered the meadow… then he saw the battle field. He saw lots of fighting people. Then he saw a bright light in the distance. It was coming from white winged people. He recognized them as some of the apostles. The light became brighter and brighter until it was too bright and the vision exploded into dust. Joshua was back in reality.

Everyone around him stared at him. He told them what he had seen. A smirk appeared on his father's face. "Sounds pretty much like a good Omen to me. The angels destroy the demons. That's right!" He called loudly and made the crowd cheer.

Azmaria sat in her room. She leaned on the window sill and prayed for her friends. Suddenly she screamed while pictures flowed through her head. All in all she had a similar vision like the other two. The visions always started on the same way. But then she saw a blood covered Sathella looking at her. Azmaria screamed and withdrew out of the vision. A voice in her head was telling her that it was important to help them. She was not really herself when she opened the window and jumped out of it. During the fall the white feathered wings spread out of her back catching her in her fall.

The same or at least similar happened to the older apostles. Lydia, Sarah and Nathan received those visions too. They spread their wings out and followed the voice in their head. Little Sheda was an exception because she was still too young.

It was really time to get ready now. Chrno closed the last buckle of his armour and put the belt with the sword sheath around his waist.

At first they would be flying over the mountains. Then arriving at the valley, the battalions would be separated into special parts. One air part with their best archers, one ground part with their strongest fighters and last but not least the Lords and high generals on shadow horses.

The human army arrived at their destination very very early. Several hours before the fight began. They send some explorer to find the advantages and disadvantages of the landscape.

Three hours later – it was around 10 o'clock – something dark was spotted at the horizon. It was the allied demon army.

The generally settled their battalions next to the humans. The demonic soldiers had the same uniforms like the humans. They should be divided from the enemy.

Aion and Chrno rode over to Vinsent with their horses to greet him. They exchanged some last words. Suddenly a lonely rider dressed all in white was spotted at the horizon. The person was closer to them than the demonic army and was coming closer exactly into the direction of the king and the lords.

Chrno bit his lip. "Oh no…"

**AN:** Lotus and Mariam: I was just kidding when I said I deleted the battle chapter XD Just wanted to trick you with the start of that chapter. You didn't really think I deleted the chapter I had put so much effort in, did you? :3


	46. VII Chapter 46

**Chapter 46:**

_Flashback_

Rosette was arguing with Chrno. After that vision she didn't want to leave him alone. Only she could prevent what she had seen.

Chrno was just as stubborn as she was. He would not give in.

Suddenly he made her sleep. The girl felt numb. She couldn't move. Seconds afterwards her view went black.

Then she able to see again. It was not the world around her though. It was again the vision she saw. No vision was not the right word. It was a nightmare… Screaming she woke up again.

Rosette stared at the wooden ceiling. The sound of trampling hooves and a rattling carriage reached her ears. Bright light was coming through the window on the left. It told her that much time must have passed by while she was asleep. She shot straight up and opened the door.

She jumped out of the driving carriage which braked immediately.

Rosette landed unluckily and fell down. A maid appeared directly at her side. She wasn't wearing the maid's outfit she was wearing usually. She wore a sleeveless dress with a tight big belt around her waist. The skirt was long with a slit on the right side. Sheaths with various weapons hung around her waist. The other maid who sat on the carriage was dressed similar.

"Is everything alright? You could just have told us to stop, Milady." The demon asked her worried.

"NO!" Rosette screamed loudly. "I have to help them!"

"I'm sorry but that is not possible." The maid said. She had been warned that Rosette could be very stubborn. Avoiding any more arguments, she took Rosette around her waist and dragged her towards the carriage. "I am very sorry, but I have my commands."

Rosette fumed. She didn't want that anymore. Why was there always someone who told her what to do? She ground her teeth and growled.

"I've said I have to help them and you won't stop me. You cannot command me around." Rosette snarled angrily.

The maid yelped as some of the stigmata blood touched her. She let go of the blonde who jumped aside immediately.

"Listen. I know I am not supposed to fight. But I will definitely fight to save those I love." She said emphatically.

Another woman appeared right behind her. Her armour was a little bit more elegant and she had long brown hair. The maids looked at her. Obviously they didn't know why the woman was there, but they respected her a lot.

"Fight to save the ones you love, hu?" The woman said. "Then let's fight together." Rizelle said and reached out her hand. "I was left behind too and like you I want to fight."

Rosette's mood lit up immediately. "Alright."

Rosette felt great now. She had gotten some support.

Suddenly she began to feel strange. It was as if invisible energy swirled around her.

She began to change like she had done after that strange ritual in Krefya. Her clothes changed to a white long dress with an underbust corset. The blood flowing out of her stigmata gathered at one place and formed the big double axe. The only things that were missing were the wings, but that didn't really matter. Rosette's azure eyes began to glow brightly. She was ready to fight and she would definitely fight in the battle.

Then something else happened. The ring on her finger – the one with the jewel Sathella had given her – began to glow and it heated up immensely. Suddenly it seemed like crystals were growing out of it. At first around her hand, then it spread out over her arms and then the rest of her body.

"Wha-!" Rosette gasped. Shortly after the diamonds had spread over her whole body they began to shape. Then they were done it looked like a sparkling armour. The armour was tight at the torso. The skirt of the dress was not covered with armour. It was still like it had been. But the shoes had changed. They became some heavy white boots. Her shoulders and her arms were protected with a thin layer of diamond. Same happened to her legs as well. Although the layer was really thin it seemed to be unbreakable.

Rosette's eyes widened. The armour looked exactly like the one she had seen in her vision. The girl gulped… The first thing of the vision had become true… She closed her eyes and wished the other wouldn't become true as well.

When she opened her eyes again, the azure eyes were full of determination.

"I ask you again. Do you want to interfere with me?" She snarled at the servants.

Said servants knelt down and bent. "No, Mistress." They said in unison.

Rosette nodded satisfied. "Then we will be leaving now. Goodbye and thanks for taking care of me while I was asleep."

She put two fingers in her mouth, whistled and the shadow horse appeared. Elegantly she swung her leg over its back and pushed her legs into his sides. The animal neighed and began running. Rizelle followed her fast. She was a good runner and had an incredible speed. During the journey they asked each other's names and what they were fighting for.

They did not stop. They did not want to rest. Fortunately they had a perfect view to the human side of the mountains where they were now. They also knew when and where the others were meeting. It wasn't far away anymore. Thanks to the incredible speed of the shadow horse they arrived there half an hour later. Rizelle stayed back and hid in the forest. She would attack from the ambush later.

There was a huge meadow. It was really really really huge, taking in the whole valley. The huge human-demon army was already posted at its place. Rosette narrowed her eyes. There, in some distance, there were some men on horses. She could recognize her father's bright hair and kept galloping in his direction.

Chrno's mouth clapped open. "Oh no…" he whispered when he saw the person galloping towards them. With his sharp demon-eyes he could see very well exactly who was approaching and he didn't like it at all. How often had he told her to stay away? As if taking care of himself wasn't difficult enough on the battlefield, he had to take care of Rosette now too.

"I thought you told her to hide." Aion turned around to Chrno. Since he was talking in the demonic language, the others did not understand.

"To be honest…I thought so too…" Chrno trailed off and watched her.

When she was closer he noticed that she had changed… He had never felt such a determination around her.

She was now close enough for Vinsent, Joshua and Remington to recognize her too.

"What are you doing here?" They yelled shocked at the same time.

Rosette was looking sternly at them. She repeated almost the same she had already told the servants earlier that day.

"Not in a hundred years, Rosette!" Her father spoke loudly. He glared at her.

"Well, I guess I have to. Now it's too late." Rosette smirked in victory over her father and pointed towards the horizon. The enemy appeared on the top of the hill.

Rosette turned her horse and took position between Remington and Chrno.

"Are you really sure you want to do this?" Chrno asked her with a frown on his face.

Again she glared at him.

"As you wish." The purple haired demon sighed… Why did she have to be so stubborn?

Lord Defaux grumbled. To his right was the Western Lady, to his left the Northern Lord.

Defaux had taken over the role as leader. Everything happened to his command. He had chosen the best generals of all three counties to put things into order. Looking over the huge army he was quite satisfied with the amount of blood lusting demons.

The old devil smirked evilly. They reached the human land. On one hand the human land was a great advantage, but also a great disadvantage.

The advantage was that they were already in human land which meant that the demons could occupy the land faster. Plus the damage would be on their land, not on the demons' land which saved them a lot of work.

The disadvantage was that they didn't know the landscape exactly. They only knew that there was a valley. The humans could have planned some tricks… But what were human tricks against a whole demonic army?

Defaux also wondered whether the Southern county really dared to oppose them. The two little inexperienced rebels calling themselves Lords had to be taught a lesson.

Then they arrived on the hill. Defaux' smirk grew wider. "So they really came…" He nodded to his left and to his right and the two nobles beside him took in their places somewhere in front of the army.

Defaux whistled and a man rode on his horse to his side. He told him something and gestured him to leave afterwards.

The hostile army was coming closer. Vinsent's generals were yelling some commands in stress. Aion did the same. He was playing the role of a general too. He had also thought of a good tactic. Aion had always been good as leader, so he and Chrno had decided not to give the command to a high ranked general like the others did.

After the talk to the human king Aion turned his shadow horse and rode past his soldiers.

Remington was a general too. He was pretty much stressed too.

Chrno, Rosette and her brother stayed with the king for a while.

A messenger was sent over to them. Chrno translated what he was saying for Vinsent. There wasn't anything new, no changes in plan. "The rules are: There are no rules." He told them. Vinsent nodded in agreement. The messenger bowed shortly and rode his horse back to his people.

"Alright. Let's go." Vinsent said. "Let the fight begin!" He exclaimed louder and drew his sword.

The soldiers behind him roared and lifted their weapons over their heads as well.

The hostile army was doing the same.

"Rosette, you stay back!" Vinsent commanded her while the soldiers still made a noise.

_Forget it._ She thought and grinned. "Excuse me? I don't understand you through the noise!" She said smirking.

The armies moved and Rosette was in first line.

Azmaria felt her huge white wings carry her through the freezing cold air. It didn't matter that it was cold. She also didn't mind the extreme speed she was having right now. Far away in the distance she spotted something glowing on the horizon.

The young girl narrowed her pink eyes and tried not to be blinded. She was curious what it was… it was flying into the same direction she was flying to.

She speeded up and slowly closed the distance.

There the light was coming from… Just a little bit more…

Azmaria flew directly through a cloud. Because she couldn't see anything all of a sudden she braked sharply and lifted her hands in defense in front of her head. Her speed was too high and she did not come to a halt. After the cloud she directly crashed into the source of the light.

Both girls screamed as they crashed and they lost high. Spinning and whirling around Azmaria struggled to open her wings. When she did so, she noticed the other person had done that earlier too.

Azmaria smiled brightly because she saw that the person was Lydia, one of the other apostles she met on Krefya. The older girl sunk next to the albino and greeted her open-hearted.

Azmaria sighed relieved. "So I am not the only one…" She said and combed with her hand through her long silvery hair.

"No! Did you get this vision too? Is there that voice in your head that tells you to go into this direction, too?" Lydia began to bubble.

It was hard too understand her because the wind was taking the words out of her mouth.

Azmaria nodded nevertheless. She knew the questions very well because she wanted to ask that too.

"Let's go faster! I have the feeling something exciting is going to happen now!" The other girl squealed excited. "Oh look there!" She pointed forwards. She flew next to Azmaria, too her hand and dragged her with her.

In front of them there was another bright light. It stopped when Azmaria and Lydia came closer.

Nathan, also one of the apostles, waved at them. "Isn't that a little bit too dangerous for two girls?" He greeted them and put his hands on his hips.

"Ha!" Lydia laughed. "I wouldn't say that too loud! Remember we're apostles, we're not just weaklings!"

A little quarrel spread between the two. It stopped when the fourth apostle appeared.

Sarah greeted them shyly. "Hello." She said warmly. "I think we better hurry up now." She said and gestured them to continue on their way.

The others nodded. Their wings were carrying them fast over the landscape.

They could already feel the tension in the air. Not much time afterwards they could hear the sounds coming from the battle field.

The fighters roared and ran straight ahead. The very first ones collided. The clashing sounds of metal weapons echoed over the whole meadow.

Aion ground his teeth and rammed his sword into another demon.

He was looking for a special someone… He had to kill their leader which was most likely Defaux. Aion smirked. The young demon had waited for this moment since a long time. Defaux really annoyed and angered him. It would be a pleasure to get rid of him.

**AN**: Oh mi gosh… I so suck in writing that stuff… But I still have to fill some chapters…


	47. VII Chapter 47

**Chapter 47:**

DeFaux smirked. He still had an ace in his sleeve. Because there was one thing the humans did not know, but he wouldn't reveal it now. He'd do that later.

The battlefield was a chaos. Everywhere were people either in red or blue armours. Red for demons, blue for humans.

The jewel witches were a great help. They already got rid of lots of demons. But there were only two of them and millions of enemies.

The normal humans barely stand a chance against the demons. They were just too strong for them. Furthermore they didn't have special attacks like their enemies. Vinsent grit his teeth when he saw that his army was constantly decimated bit by bit. He himself wasn't directly in the middle of the field. No leaders were. DeFaux wasn't as well. Losing their leader in the battle meant as much as losing the battle itself.

Aion was an exception. He knew he shouldn't be in the middle of the chaos because it was the soldiers' task, but he was nevertheless. He tried to fight his way to DeFaux. He wanted to punch that ugly face of the damn lord.

Chrno tried to stay close to Rosette to protect her. It was a difficult task though. Of course she didn't stay still and he lost her more than three times in the chaos. Loudly he yelled her name.

An enemy got in his way and he killed him with three sword strikes.

Rosette just came in his view. She was on the ground now, not on the shadow horse anymore. The blood axe swirled through the air cutting off three heads.

Relieved that she was okay, Chrno sighed. He beheaded some demons as well before he jumped off his horse and ran to Rosette. They were standing back to back now and lots of enemies surrounded them. Chrno already had waited for that chance. He rammed the sword into the ground and spread his arms. Little lightnings appeared around his finder tips, bigger ones around his horns. All enemies around him froze to stone. Chrno smirked. In the next moment the stone figures burst to dust.

The attack had one disadvantage. It was very powerful, yes, but it was also very exhausting and it needed lots of energy. Moreover it didn't take a long time until the dead enemies were replaced by new ones.

From the distance they heard some humans scream louder than usual. The smell of smoke was caught in Chrno's nose. He looked up to see what it was.

The source of the fire was a huge fire wolf. Its fur stood in flames and it burned everything around it. There were more creatures similar to it.

Fortunately a water demon with blue armour assaulted and tackled it down in order to give it the last strike.

Everywhere over the place there were demonic creatures fighting each other or demons killing humans. It was rare to see humans killing demons. Although, some guys like for example Remington managed to get some of them down.

The situation in the air wasn't really the best. There were less demons from the blue army than from the red army. They had to withdraw more and more. Chrno looked over to Rosette who nodded to him. Chrno spread his wings and rushed over to the air army for support. They were important for the fight, so he had to pay attention to keep his people up there.

Aion was still in the middle of the chaos. He growled at an opponent and ripped him apart with his claws. Another one died by an energy ball. Suddenly Aion got hit on his back. He was sent to the ground. Immediately he rolled away and avoided being hit again. He kicked the sword out of the hands of the attacker. With a clinging sound it fell to the earth where Aion gripped it and rammed it into the chest of the attacker. The young demon jumped to his feet dodged two more attacks. He jumped over some corpses and between some fighting people he could see the lords. Aion smirked and stormed forwards. The crowd in the battlefield moved and Aion was somehow pushed and carried away from his goal. Aion cursed and tried again.

Rizelle was still at the opposite side of the meadow behind some trees. She was still waiting for her right time to appear. After a while she grew impatient. The situation looked everything else than good. So she decided that something like the "right time" would never come and sneaked towards battlefield in the high grass.

Because there was too much tumult she wasn't noticed and could attack them from behind.

Chrno chased through the hostile air army. He was followed by lots of enemies. They shot energy balls, lances and spears after him. One of his wings had already started to burn. Both wings had already holes in them. Fortunately he was able to heal very fast or else the holes could rip and then he'd fall down.

Sathella was positioned at the left side of the battlefield. She was forcing her way towards the middle. Fiore did the same on the right side.

Lots of time had already passed by now. Both jewel witches had to withdraw because their power was coming to an end. More time had already passed by and the sun had already set. Only dull twilight lit up the scene.

Heavily panting Rosette jumped away and avoided to be hit by an energy ball just in time. Unfortunately she came too close to a demon who was able to create shockwaves. She got caught in one and flew backwards.

Azmaria, Sarah, Nathan and Lydia hovered high in the sky in some distance to the battlefield. They didn't know what to do now since they did not know if or how they could use their apostle powers on purpose.

Suddenly another white light approached them from behind. The only difference was that it was on the ground, but it was brighter than the apostles.

Azmaria pointed towards it.

The voice in the apostles' head that had told them to come here led them towards the person on the ground.

They landed directly next to the woman who had a gentle smile on her lips. She had long blonde hair and light blue eyes.

"Hello, my apostles." Mary said softly.

The apostles stared at the beautiful woman and repeated her greeting.

Mary looked from one of them to the other. "I think the reason why I called you here is quite obvious." She spoke calmly. Her gaze was pointed towards the battlefield.

The apostles nodded in response and Mary turned towards them again. "You apostles shall bring the change. Only with your help this war will end on a good way." She explained them.

"But how can we help? We can't even fight." Azmaria asked shyly.

"You will when the time comes." Mary said and patted Azzy's head. "Until then, remember my words. The true enemy will reveal himself in the end. Ruins do not always mean that something is bad. Your victory will rise from them. Now fly my peace doves."

Puzzled they looked at her. Nathan was the first one to spread out his wings. The three girls followed his example.

Mary watched them fly high. A nostalgic feeling spread out in her. Years ago it had been her who flew with sparkling white wings through the sky of another peaceful world.

Harshly Rosette hit the ground. She groaned. An enemy was longing for her, but someone beat it away with a sparkling blue sword.

It was Remington. He helped Rosette to her feet and stayed with her until she was okay again.

Chrno was still helping the air army. With his help they got a better position. From time to time frozen demons fell down onto their companions.

Nevertheless Chrno always tried to keep an eye on Rosette. He had seen how she had hit the ground and wanted to race towards her. Remington had been faster though.

Gritting his teeth Chrno decided to let him protect her. He couldn't be with her all the time, so he could be lucky that Remington was there to take over that part.

Rosette thanked Remington. She fetched her axe from wherever it had been lying and prepared to attack again.

Remington scanned her shortly and suggested her to take a rest while fought with someone.

Rosette was already really exhausted. At first she wanted to protest, but her body told her that she really needed a rest.

He accompanied her to the border of the battlefield. From there on she could go alone. Remington had to stay anyways.

Half an hour away from the battlefield there was a camp in which the injured ones were treated. Perhaps she was lucky and would find something to eat there. On the way there she could still see fighting people, corpses and blood. The smell was disgusting.

Chrno's ears pricked up. He looked into Rosette's direction. It was good that she was taking a break. She needed it.

Suddenly his attention was drawn to a part of the meadow close by. His eyes widened and he screamed for Rosette, but she just didn't hear him. He raced towards her, but it was already too late. A hidden door in the ground opened, DeFaux popped out of it, took Rosette and disappeared with her in the underground.

Rosette tried to scream when someone took her around her waist, but a hand covered her mouth tightly. She struggled to get free, but it had no use.

DeFaux smirked. The underground ways were really useful. Once upon a time when this land had still been owned by humans, there had been a huge city where now this meadow was. The underground ways had remained even though the whole city fell into ruins and vanished. Some of the ruins were also just covered with sand.

DeFaux had learned about that in very very old reports. Directly he had taken advantage of it because he doubted that anyone else would know.

The underground ways even connected both sides of the mountains.

DeFaux smirked. The other half of his army was only waiting to jump out of the underground, ready to attack.

Chrno raced down to where she had vanished.

Remington had also arrived.

Chrno growled at him. "You shouldn't have let her alone, you dumbass."

The blonde man glared back at him. "Neither should you have."

Chrno snorted and started searching for the underground door.

After a while Remington had found it and Chrno used an energy ball to open it. He jumped down and found himself in some ruins. Chrno gasped. There was the smell of demon everywhere around. "Oh no, an ambush."

He looked up and yelled to Remington that he had to inform the others.

Remington snorted. He should be the one being down there and saving Rosette. But he was reasonable and stormed towards the king to tell him.

Meanwhile Chrno hurried through the corridors. He followed Rosette's scent and killed all soldiers on his way there. He rushed around a corner and stroke again.

He also found her. Rosette was tied up and DeFaux was standing close to her. The older demon smirked when Chrno entered.

"You're pretty fast." He said.

Panicked Rosette looked at Chrno. She was gagged and couldn't speak, but if she could, she would tell him to get the hell outta there because it was a trap.

Chrno misinterpreted the look in her eyes. Therefore he stepped directly into the room. Suddenly he was surrounded by soldiers and all of them were attacking him.

The purple haired demon was able to beat most of them. Unluckily he didn't have enough energy to freeze them right now.

DeFaux decided to join the fight as well. He raced towards Chrno and got him at the most vulnerable part of a demon, the horns. And they were ripped off.

Chrno screamed terribly. The loss hurt.

Rosette wanted to scream something, but she couldn't. She already started to cry.

DeFaux snatched the sword away from Chrno and launched an attack.

The night sky became bright as day. Then it was dark again.

Joshua ran out of the tent he had been resting in. Again the sky was lit up. The light was so bright and clear.

Azmaria and the other apostles landed in a safe distance to the battlefield. Two persons were approaching them. It was Sathella and her sister. A big fresh blood stain was on Sathella's side.

Joshua watched as the bright light vanished again. Then loud noise was heard. It was a thunderstorm with very bright lightnings. "So that was what the vision was telling me…" He said a little bit disappointed.

Azmaria hurried over to Sathella. "Oh my God, are you alright?" The young girl asked panicked.

Sathella blinked with her eyes and shrugged. "Yes, why not?"

With a shaking hand Azmaria pointed to Sathella's waist. "But you're seriously wounded!"

The redhead looked down on her self. "Oh that. No that's not my blood."

Relieved Azmaria sunk to her knees. Her vision had been right, but at least it wasn't something serious.

Rosette's eyes widened. It was exactly like in her vision. Chrno being there and behind him Dafaux who stabbed him in the back.

But it never came that far. Rosette's eyes widened more.

There was a second blade that crossed the one Defaux was leading.

Aion growled deeply at DeFaux. "Prepare to die." Aion snarled at him.

Fortunately all visions and dreams had proofed to be wrong.

**AN:** If I could I would post the :la: smily here…


	48. VII Chapter 48

**Chapter 48:**

Chrno was on his knees. With both hands he held the gaping wounds on his temples. This was just the worst that could have happened. And DeFaux had the horns and he would definitely not return them.

Fortunately Aion had been there to help him. Apropos Aion.

The other twin was crossing blades with DeFaux. "Prepare to die."

"You too." DeFaux snarled back. He spun around and swung to strike.

Aion also blocked that strike and attacked himself. Directly after striking with his sword he aimed a kick. DeFaux got his foot and twisted it around. Aion didn't mind. He kept balance by resting his weight on his free hand while he kicked with his free leg. It hit DeFaux directly in the face. DeFaux was really angered now and lightnings appeared all around him.

Meanwhile Chrno crept over to Rosette freed her from the gag and the ties.

She took his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes. "Are you alright." She asked worriedly.

He smiled sadly at her. "It hurts, but I'll survive. Now hurry up. We gotta get outta here fast, Rozetta."

She got on her feet and they hurried outside. Chrno would come back as soon as possible to help his brother.

Outside he scooped Rosette in his arms and flew her to the safest camp far away. Before Rosette could protest he was on his way to Aion again.

DeFaux growled angrily at Aion and his eyes began to glow. What did the fcking brat think who he was? Having no respect of him, one of the Lords. That kid needed to be taught a lesson.

Aion attacked again. DeFaux jumped aside, but only a little bit. He hit Aion's stomach with his elbow. Then he drew one of Chrno's horns out of his pocket and slammed it into Aion's back, twisted it there, turned it around and drew it out again before it slipped into his pocket again.

Aion screamed sharply. The horns were damn dangerous. He already felt how the skin around the wound was slowly turned into stone. Aion hissed. His eyes began to glow as well as they began to battle.

Most of the soldiers couldn't rest during night. Even then the fight continued. While the humans were already terribly exhausted, the demons didn't even seem to mind.

Sathella and Fiore got no sleep. They used their powers as often as it was possible for them.

Vinsent had gotten the message that more enemies were lurking in the depths of the ruins. He ran his hand over his face. "And we have no ideas where the entrances are." He sighed deeply. Suddenly he saw four people standing with Sathella and Fiore.

"What are the kids doing here?" He yelled and the kids were brought to him.

"We are apostles." Nathan said. "We're here for support."

"Then why don't you do anything!" The king growled at them and they backed away.

"W-we don't know how to control the power." Azmaria stuttered.

"But I know." A familiar voice said behind her.

The apostles spun around to see Rosette in her complete armour.

"Come with me, I will explain it to you." She told them.

Later Joshua joined the group.

They gathered in a circle.

"Alright." Rosette started. She took some deep breathes. "Place you hand over your heart. It's the place where most of the energy is." She had felt that very strongly when she had changed. Therefore she knew. "Now try to awaken you inner self. Think of something very powerful."

She took some more deep breathes and wings appeared on her back.

Reacting to her energy the apostles "awoke" as well.

Mary stood on the hill and smiled. "Good girl. You have found your role to play. You are the awaker."

The apostles' eyes glowed brightly. White wings appeared on their backs again and the started rising into the air.

Rosette's stigmata broke again. Blood was coming from her hands, feet, her forehead and her side. The blood flowed in a circle around them.

They were rising higher and higher into the sky.

But still, they were not complete. They were less apostles because Jack and Sheda were missing.

Mary also took care of that. She transferred all her power to the apostles. Now they were strong enough.

Chrno had been on his way towards Aion. He didn't fly. He was in his human form and he borrowed a sword from someone. The demon form would take to much astral which was fatal without horns.

In the corner of his eyes he saw some people rising into the air. He stopped and turned around.

That was a mistake. A huge monster came from behind and closed his muzzled around him. Chrno screamed. He cut his arm on one of the sharp teeth.

The monster threw its head back. Chrno slipped on the wet tongue and fell down its throat. With a loud SPLASH he landed in the stomach acid. He screamed when his skin hit it. He found a little hill –whatever it had been before, now it wasn't recognized as such anymore. He climbed on it and tried not to touch the acid.

Suddenly some groans were heard and the young demon scanned the surface of the liquid. There was one of the human soldiers. His skin was almost all burned away, but he still lived. His body was blood covered. "H-h-hel-help…" He croaked.

Chrno stared at him for a moment before he jumped into the acid again and he went towards him. He gripped the soldiers arm and wanted to drag him out.

"No…" The poor man croaked.

"But you said I should help you!" Chrno said loudly.

"You can't save me, so have mercy and end my pain." The soldier croaked.

Chrno narrowed his eyes. He couldn't just do that? Could he?

A wave of acid came as the monster moved. The man screamed. "I beg of you!"

Chrno took some deep breaths and closed his eyes. In the next moment the head of the man fell off.

Chrno shuddered and climbed back on the "hill". He couldn't believe it and shivered again. He took a look at his skin. On some parts the raw flesh was seen. Chrno hissed and looked around. Then he tried several times to climb up the throat, but it didn't work and he slid down again. Chrno was pretty pissed by now, but he wasn't allowed to use too much astral. So he drew his sword and started digging a hole into the thick muscle wall. He almost needed half an hour to get out of the monster. The monster howled in agony.

Sathella was already there and gave the final strike to the monster. It exploded and blood, guts, half digested corpses were flying through the air. They landed within a radius of 50 meters.

The apostles were still hovering in the sky. Suddenly their heads fell backwards into her neck and they stared into the sky. Their eyes began to glow even more than before and they started to sing the same tune.

Astral gathered around them and engulfed them. The astral was swirling around and created a pillar like it had done in the temple. The bright light was seen everywhere. First vision fulfilled.

All demons looked up to it. Suddenly all those with red armours were killed.

At first they blew up like a balloon and then they ripped and exploded. Again, bones, guts and blood were splashing everywhere.

Other demons were just ripped apart. And the arms and legs were thrown away and landed somewhere else.

The ground was covered by a mud consisting of blood, guts, sand and grass. It was an disgusting mixture. As well was the smell.

Chrno had to cover his mouth and nose or else he'd get sick.

Aion still fought with DeFaux. It looked like he'd lose. Or better he already had lost. His left arm was missing and his right leg as well.

DeFaux looked down at him. "If you're going to play make believe in front of a general, you never should have come."

Then the apostles took their effect on DeFaux as well. DeFaux stumbled back and gasped.

Aion rose to his feet and he healed within no time. Even the wound caused by the horns healed.

"It's pretty hard, isn't it… to lose on purpose." Aion spoke lowly while the last bit healed. "In order to trick you… I had to prepare myself for this... Don't tell me you were totally unaware that I was doing it on purpose?" Aion laughed. DeFaux was paralyzed by the apostles. This was his chance.

"What have you done? Why can't I move?" DeFaux yelled at him. He clutched one of his arms.

"Because they're awake." Aion said. "The apostles are awake."

(Scene taken from Chrno Crusade Vol. 7 Chapter 45, but I modified it a lil bit.)

With a last strike Aion blew DeFaux' head away and smashed it at the wall. DeFaux exploded. Chrno's horns weren't found anymore.

How long had Aion waited for that chance? It felt like an eternity and now he was free of him. Aion sunk to his knees and breathed heavily.

He was so relieved…. So damn relieved. He didn't know what he would have done if the apostles hadn't awaken. They just had the right timing. If they hadn't been there Aion would have had to wait for another chance to kill Defaux when the older one turned his back to him.

After a while he got to his feet and pushed himself forward. He had to get out of the ruins.

Suddenly the astral around the Apostles darkened. Black smoke mixed with it and a dark voice echoed over the place. It was laughing at them. Then the astral started to form the body of a huge man.

Rosette snapped out of the trance like state, gasped and stared at him. What did happen just not? That hadn't been planned.

Black smoke appeared in the sky and everywhere there were cloaked and hooded persons appearing. They were the same persons they had already met in the temple, but more of them. Lots more of them.

The huge man chuckled. He longed forward with his giant hand and almost squeezed Rosette in his fist. "Last time, you were lucky. Because of your little outburst, I could not come back to life. But with that huge amount of sacrifices-" He looked over the battlefield where guts, bones and blood were everywhere. "With that amount of sacrifices it was an easy task." He snarled to her.

The apostles screamed and flew out of the way when Wodan made a step forward. "And now, I can finally kill of you who support the one who killed me." He roared with a very strong voice.

Also the soldiers looked shocked at him until Remington gave the command to attack him. And so they did, but it had no use.

Chrno also changed and took off into the air. He tried to freeze him. The demon didn't mind whether he'd have too less astral to survive it, but at least Rosette should be saved.

Wodan laughed at the attacks. "I'm a god! No one can bring me down!" He roared.

He stretched out the fingers of his free hand. Shockwaves were coming out of them. They blew Sathella and Fiore far away before they had the chance to hit him with their jewel beasts.

Sathella groaned and cursed when she hit the ground. She had fallen unluckily and now her side hurt terribly. Fiore hurried over to her to help her on her feet. Just in the moment that she arrived, Wodan slammed his fist on them. Seconds afterwards he removed it again and smirked.

Unable to move because of the pain the sister stayed lying where they were like squeezed flies. They had several bad wounds and sure some broken rips, if not other bones too.

Azmaria screamed and darted down to her friends. They were still alive, though she didn't know how long they could survive.

Chrno grit his teeth. He tried to attack again as well, but also this attack was useless.

Wodan decided that he didn't need Rosette anymore and threw her away. Chrno stormed after her, just catching the girl meters before she hit the ground.

The young demon looked around. He mind was racing. What to do now… what to do now…

He spotted Remington not far away from him, but far away enough from Wodan and landed next to the blonde man. He handed him the by now unconscious girl. "If you let someone harm her, I'll tear you apart with my own hands." He snarled at Remington and took off again.

Aion came flying to his left. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" He yelled at his brother.

"Someone we have to get rid off!" Chrno yelled back at Aion. He changed directions, so Aion was coming from one side while Chrno came from the other side.

Everybody gave their bests to attack him, but it did not work. Chrno had changed tactics and was now attacking the cloaked people who were enemies as well.

Worriedly Azmaria patted Sathella's cheek, but the only think the redhead did was coughing up some blood. The albino girl called for help and the other four apostles helped her carrying the Harvenheit sister out of the danger zone.

Suddenly Azmaria got an idea. "What did Mary say?" She asked the others. "Something like 'victory will come from the ruins', wasn't it that?" The others nodded. "Then we should look there for something that could help us."

At first they brought Sathella and Fiore to soldier that could guard them, then they hurried over to the place where Rosette had been pulled into the underground a while ago.

After some minutes of walking in the ruins, they heard some noise. They found out that they were survivors of the red army. They had hidden deep enough in the ruins and they hadn't been affected by the astral power.

At first they wanted to kill the apostles. Scared said apostles took a step back.

Suddenly Mary appeared in front of them again. She stood with her back to them and with her face towards the demons.

The demons were watching her with respect. Mary stepped forward and lifted her right arm. The index finger pointed towards the demons. Then she spoke something in their language and they nodded. In the next second Mary vanished again.

The demons bowed in front of the apostles.

Joshua nodded. He stepped forward and gave them orders. And they really did what he said. He wondered what Mary had told them.

Everywhere over the meadow there were underground gates and door popping up and demons stormed out of them.

At first the blue army looked at them with a shocked, but they saw that they weren't their pray, but Wodan.

Still Wodan only laughed at their attacks. But his hooded friends weren't so lucky. Lots of them were killed.

Sathella awoke again. She forced herself to her feet and watched the scene for a minute. The redhead stumbled forward, but she caught her balance again. Now she was running and attacking Wodan again.

Chrno decided to leave the cloaked persons to the newly arrived demon. He took care of Wodan again himself.

The apostles also attacked again.

Rosette woke up with glowing eyes when she felt the other apostles using their powers.

Chrno, Aion, Rosette, Joshua, Azmaria, Sathella and the surrounding Wodan now. They were hovering in the air, then they spread out their arms and astral swirled around their hands or Sathella's jewel knight.

The astral connected to a circle around Wodan and the circle was getting smaller and smaller.

The God growled deeply at them. He could not break the circle and he was forced to the ground.

Smiles appeared on the attacker's faces. They were so relieved that they had finally found something to bring him down.

The circle tightened further and Wodan burst to dust.

Happy they stared at the place where he had been and landed. Everyone else cheered.

Azmaria hurried over to Sathella. Her condition had gotten worse after she had used so many energy. Azzy gasped and slowed down. The sight that was in front of her, was now exactly like in her vision. Sathella was blood covered, but she smiled at the young albino. Then she collapsed on the ground. Azmaria screamed and hurried over to her. Joshua did as well. Second vision fulfilled.

Rosette took care of Chrno. He was almost at his end as well. Furthermore he had changed back to his human form because he couldn't keep the demon form anymore. Aion was approaching him his well. He was worried about his brother.

Out of the blue Aion flew backwards through the air. Then he was slammed onto the ground by an invisible force. He groaned when some bones broke.

Wodan wasn't dead. "As I said. You cannot kill a God." He smirked and laughed madly.

Chrno shot to his feet and glared at him. His eyes went wide when the god disappeared.

He materialized behind him, Rosette screamed, but it was too late. He had already stabbed Chrno through his back with the help of one of his giant claws. Third vision fulfilled.

He drew the claw out of Chrno again. Blood was flowing out of the wounds and the poor demon had to couch up blood violently.

Rosette hurried by his side, but right now she could not do anything for him.

Suddenly a blue light appeared in front of Wodan. Curiously the huge man looked at it.

Mary looked at him with sad eyes. "You have already caused enough trouble. Now go back to your thousands of years lasting sleep." The girl said and touched his forehead. Immediately he became calm. Mary started to sing a beautiful lullaby and slowly the huge God sunk down into the blood soaked grass. He lay down and turned to stone. In an unnatural high speed grass began to grow over him. Soon only a grass covered hill was left behind.

Mary smiled and rose higher into the air until she disappeared over the clouds.

All others were watching her until she wasn't there anymore. Nobody really knew who she was.

Rosette only glanced upwards for a short time until she returned her attention to Chrno. She called for help and immediately some other people came and helped her bringing him to the infirmary.

Azmaria screamed at Sathella to get up again, but she didn't react.

Fiore arrived at their place as well and fell to her knees next to her sister. Sathella glanced through her half-lid eyes. "Sister…"

Fiore looked sadly at her and took her in her arms. She had a jewel in her hand which she pressed on Sathella's back. "Durchbore uns." (= pierce us; and I know, actually it's the way around, but I don't mind) A huge jewel spear pierced both of them directly through the hard. Their injuries had been too bad; they wouldn't have survived anyways, so they judged themselves to end their pain. Tears were strolling down Azmaria's cheeks.

Rizelle got to her feet as well. One of her legs had a deep cut in it. She limbed over to Aion and sat down next to him, stroking his cheek, waiting for him to wake up. He still lived, but he was unconscious.

Rosette arrived next to Azmaria and took the girl in her arms.

The fight was over. All hostile Lords had been killed. Both armies were at their end after Wodan attacked. It was over. Finally over.

After a first treatment the injured were brought to the closest castle where well-educated doctors took care of them.

Rosette spent all her time next to Chrno's bed, hoping that he'd survive. Without his horns it looked bad.

After the second day, Joshua came inside and took her away from him. She should rest at least some hours, at first she refused to, but she didn't have enough strength to do that for a long time.

She couldn't get much rest anyways. After an hour she was awake again. Her way to Chrno led her down some hallways.

Chrno heard how the door opened. He guessed it was Rosette, so he didn't even look at the door. Suddenly he felt the cold metal of a blade touching his throat.

His eyes shot open and they stared directly into Remington's icy eyes.

"I have told you more than once to keep your hands away from Rosette." The blonde man snarled at him. "Because of her I'll get much more powerful after we married."

"Hmpf, power, is that anything you want?" Chrno growled back at him. He glanced over to the blade again.

"One wound more or less…" Remington suddenly said. "No one will notice." And he rammed the blade through Chrno's heart.

**AN:** I'm evil today….


	49. ENDING A

**ENDING ****A**

Chrno gasped and spit out some blood. The sword was directly rammed through his heart. His vision began to blur immensely. He growled at Remington.

The blonde man smirked at him and twisted the sword causing Chrno to scream. His smirk widened. "Did you know that holy blades dipped into holy water are very effective against demons?" He snarled close to Chrno's ear.

The demon's eyes widened. If it had been a normal blade, he could have had a chance, but even with horns healing wounds caused by holy objects would be difficult. Without horns it was his doom.

With last powers he flexed his claws and longed for Remington with them. Remington got caught on his shoulder and hissed. He put more pressure on the blade and Chrno winced.

A knock was heard on the door and it startled them both.

"Some last words to say?" Remington growled.

"Keep your hands away from her." Chrno snapped back. More blood was coming out of his mouth.

"No."

Seconds before the door popped open, Remington withdrew his sword and jumped out of the window.

The blade that had kept the blood from flowing out of the wound, had vanished now, and everything came out.

Chrno coughed heavily and spit out more blood.

Rosette stood in the doorway and stared at Chrno. She hadn't seen Remington and assumed one of his wounds had broken again by itself. He had been terribly injured after all.

She screamed his name and rushed by his side.

He brushed the blood sucked bangs out of his face and stroke over his cheek. "Don't die, don't die, don't die…" She whispered panicked.

Then she started screaming for help and cried.

It took too long until she was noticed, but the one who found her hurried to get a doctor immediately.

Rosette clutched his hand, wishing for him, praying for him.

Chrno couldn't breathe right anymore. His lungs filled with blood. The damaged heart wasn't working right anymore.

Water falls of tears were strolling down Rosette's cheeks. She embraced her beloved one and spoke to him.

Chrno tried several time to answer her, but it just did not work. He wanted to tell her so many things… That he loved her and that he wanted to be with her forever. Also that Remington had been the evil one and did this to him… So many words he wanted to say, but in the end he spoke none.

It hurt him to see Rosette crying over him.

He lifted his arm and stroke over her head. "Live…" He croaked into her ear before he passed away.

Rosette stared at him for a moment before a terrible scream escaped her lips.

She did not notice the tumult that was to be created around her when other people entered the room as well.

Her brother carried her away and into her own room. She had already seen so much misery. He wanted to spare it to her.

Even days afterwards Rosette still was in a state of deep sadness and lamenting. Who would not be? But her family was there for her. Her brother was the best. He did everything for her to make her feel better. Unfortunately that was not really possible. Remington also tried his best. And to be honest he could be a really nice person when he talked to her. (the evil bastard .)

Sathella's and Fiore's funeral was on that day as well. It made Rosette feel even worse.

To make her feelings worse than worse Aion appeared the next day, announcing that he had found Chrno's horns. When he was told what had happened, he fell to his knees, screamed and cried. His only twin… the only one who had been left of his family… Sadly he asked how he had died. "At least he could die with a dear person close to him…" He said sadly.

It made Rosette get a cry attack again.

More days had passed and soon it was a week and then one more.

"How are you feeling today, Rosette?" Remington asked her with a wide smile.

"I am of good hope." Rosette replied sharply and snorted. (AN: I hope you know what 'good hope' stands for) She hated the way Remington kept talking to her even though he wasn't even interested in what she was saying.

This time it was the same. He didn't listen to her. Remington only good the word "hope" and "good" in one sentence and guessed she was fine and hoped that everything would be okay from now on.

More weeks passed by…

Today had been her 16th birthday and the God damn marriage… Vinsent had suggested her to marry soon because it would give her other thoughts. Rosette had neither agreed to that suggestion nor protested. What was her life worth now anyways? "Live" he had said to her, but how could she live without him?

Rosette had stayed emotionless all the time. Directly after the ceremony in the evening she ran away.

Rosette stumbled through the ankle deep snow. Soon she arrived at the clearing. The 20cm high platform with the gravestone was placed in the middle of it. That had surely been one of Chrno's last wishes if he had been able to tell it. Although his body had burst to dust… They still had left the horns to bury there.

Staring sadly at it Rosette stood there for quite a long time. It was already dark now. Her legs began to shake and finally they gave in. The girl sunk to her knees, then to her bottom. With her last will power she forced herself to creep towards the gravestone. With her torso she lay down on the platform right next to the gravestone, her lower body was still touching the icy cold ground. Her head rested on her crossed arms and she began to weep quietly.

After a while it began to snow again. A thin white layer was created on her. She did not care. She also didn't care that she wasn't able to feel her limbs anymore because of the cold.

Once someone had said that you will die when you fall asleep in a snow storm…

With a peaceful smile Rosette closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into the ever-lasting sleep.

She died and with her the child she was carrying under her heart. ("Good hope" means as much as pregnant)

Mary sat in heaven between the clouds and looked sadly down to the scene.

"He promised her to stay,

Soon his body will decay.

She can't stop thinking of him.

Her mood, it is so dim.

He told her to live on.

Now, she's also gone.

Remember the good times

And listen to my rhymes.

The fate, it was foreseen,

Though, that end was mean.

They did their tasks very well,

There's nothing bad I can tell.

Meant to be together,

A dark and a white feather.

Their love was oh so strong,

Now both of them are gone.

Against her parent's will,

She was together with him still.

Their love it did not fail

With him she cast off moon's veil.

Remington did not play fair,

Hater her affair,

Made short process

And created a big mess.

The poor girl left behind

Only him in mind.

The piece of him in her

Still growing bit by bit

But in the end she could not resist

Killing herself and their kid.

**END**

**AN:** To the poem:

Moon's veil: In Greek myths Dana/Diana whatever, was the queen of the moon. She was also the queen of virginity. Following: to cast moon's veil off can mean to lose virginity =3 I got that from Romeo and Juliet =3


	50. ENDING B

**Please note: This is not a sequel to ENDING A.**

**ENDING ****B:** aka: What if Rosette had been able to save him?

Rosette was worried about Chrno. She wanted to see him now, wanted to know how he was. The girl was very aware of the fact that her beloved one's condition wasn't the very best, but she had to keep hoping and praying for him.

Soon she arrived at his room. She knocked a few times and opened the door.

All colour seemed to run out of her face.

Chrno was still lying on the bed. Remington stood next to him, the sword that was piercing Chrno's heart still in his hands. The look on Remington's face was like mad.

"No…." Rosette whispered. She ran towards Chrno and knelt down next to the bed. Carefully she turned his head towards her. He was looking back at her with glassy eyes. "Rozetto…" He choked and coughed some blood.

"Don't worry, It's gonna be alright." Rosette said with tears in her eyes.

"YOU MONSTER!" The blonde girl suddenly spun around and slapped Remington hard in the face. It was so hard that it sent him flying onto the floor. Her face was red of anger. "HOW DARE YOU?" She shrieked, pulled him up on his collar, dragged him to the door, kicked his butt and sent him flying outside before locking the door. Remington hadn't expected her to be that strong after she had seemed so weak during the last time and he had no time to resist. Madly he hammered his with his fist on the door. "Open the door and get away from the damn devil!" He growled dangerously and started to kick the huge wooden door. Unfortunately it was too heavy for him.

Rosette hurried over to the bed and sunk to her knees next to it. There she held Chrno's hand and started crying. This time it looked really bad. Without horns Chrno was lost. Plus Chrno didn't even react to her anymore. "Don't die… don't die…" Tears were running down her cheeks like rivers. Unnoticed by Rosette some tear drops were falling onto the pocket watch. It began to glow.

_She's crying… Ah, right. I swore you that I will stay with you…_Chrno thought. (AN: I'm referring to ep. 19) All of a sudden he felt new energy flowing through his body. He felt how his legion began to work, how it began to heal his wounds.

Meanwhile Rosette slid down on the side of the bed unconsciously.

When she woke up again, she had to realize that she was the one lying in the bed. Chrno's red eyes looked softly at her. He kissed her softly before he pulled her into a sitting position.

Rosette began to cry again and buried her face in his shoulder. Chrno embraced her tightly. "Haven't I promised you to stay with you?" He asked her lowly. "So there's no need to cry." He leaned his head against hers and stroked her softly. His smile this time was sad though. The demon knew exactly that he had taken the needed energy from her which meant he took precious life energy from her. Without horns it wouldn't be able to give it back to her…

He stopped thinking about that when Rosette kissed him again.

Both jumped startled when they heard the noise on the door. Remington was still trying to get inside. It sounded like he had gotten reinforcements.

Shocked Chrno and Rosette looked at each other. Chrno let go of Rosette and went to the door. Now they could open the door again.

Remington looked quite shocked when he saw that Chrno was healthy again. For some seconds the expression was shown on his face before he gained control over it again.

Chrno and Remington glared at each other for several minutes before Remington stepped aside. The blonde man knew exactly that he couldn't do anything when the other soldiers were there too. Sending them away wasn't possible anymore too because Prince Joshua just arrived and it would've been very suspicious.

And Chrno knew exactly that he would be considered a threat when he attacked a human here. The other humans would want their revenge. They did not mind whether Remington had been the one to attack first. TO them, only the fact that a demon killed the general matter and Chrno was very aware of that damn fact.

Remington stopped Rosette when she went out of the room. Chrno growled at him and earned a glare.

"Don't do anything wrong now, dear." He snarled at Rosette so that only she could her it. Then his expression changed into a wide smile. She hissed at him and pulled her arm out of his grasp.

Remington narrowed his eyes and watched her go away.

Joshua hurried after her. "What happened? Everything alright?" He asked his sister.

"No, certainly not." Rosette replied him pissed. "But I don't wanna talk about it now. Got it?" She said and disappeared into her room where she slammed the door practically into Joshua's face.

Chrno hadn't moved when Rosette went away. He glared one last time at Remington before he went away too.

During the next time there wasn't anything special.

Most of the people were occupied with reparation works or in the aristocrats' cases they were occupied with lots to organization work. Chrno stayed in the human castle and negotiated with Vinsent about the peace contract.

Remington was trying to flirt with Rosette who gave him always the cold shoulder, one time even tried to kill him. Chrno also tried to kill him several times, but there had always been someone to prevent it.

One day Aion visited them and told Chrno proudly that he had been able to find Chrno's horns. He gave them back to his brother who took them thankfully. He also gave the astral energy he had taken back to Rosette.

Two or three weeks passed by like that.

Rosette sat in her room and pressed her lips together. Her 16th birthday would be soon and then she'd be married to Remington. All attempts not to marry Remington to convince her father had failed. He even had slapped her face when she had told him it was Chrno she wanted to be with. And he had threatened her very much and told her that she had to marry Remington. It took her a lot of power to hold Chrno back from harming her father after this.

Now it was night already and Rosette sat next to her desk. She tipped with her nail onto the wood of the desk. What took him so long? He was already too late.

She placed a hand on her stomach and looked over to the window. Was that a shadow there?

Rosette got up from her seat and opened the window.

Chrno jumped inside. "Hi." He said and kissed her for greeting. "So what's that urgent thing you wanted to talk about?" The purple head asked her. He smiled brightly at her. The smile faded when he saw Rosette's serious expression though. "What's wrong?" He asked more seriously.

"Better you take a seat at first…" She told him and pointed on the arm chair next to the desk.

Chrno did so and took the wine glass (which was actually hers) and took a sip of it. "So, what's the matter?" He asked again and took one more sip.

"I am pregnant."

"…"

Chrno almost spit the wine out again, almost. He coughed a few times. "What?" He asked between coughing.

"You understood me very well. And you are the father." Rosette said and observed his reaction with wary eyes.

Chrno sighed, put the glass away and ran his hand over his face. "Are you sure?" Rosette nodded silently.

"And your father still refuses to cancel the marriage with Remington?" The demon wanted to know and laced his hands.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to him yet." Rosette said with closed eyes and a shaking voice.

She heard the sound of a chair that was knocked down and looked up. Chrno had jumped out of his seat and was already at the door by now.

"Where are you going?" She asked with a weak voice.

Chrno already hurried through the corridors, Rosette after him.

"I'll talk to your father now. If he still refuses to give you to me, I'll duel with Remington." He said coldly.

"What? B-But…" Rosette didn't get to finish her sentence. Chrno was too fast for her and he already disappeared in her father's office. The king would still be there at that late time, he had so much work to do that he was in the office till late in the night.

Rosette heard some loud voices coming from the inside. The girl winced when the door burst open and Chrno stepped out in a really really really pissed mood. He was already storming to another room.

"Chrno, wait!" Rosette called after him. Her father tried to prevent her from following the demon, but she just didn't listen to him.

Rosette raced down the hallway until she caught up with Chrno.

"I'm not gonna letting him have you. Not him." Chrno said furious over his shoulder. The demon was too fast for Rosette again and she stayed back.

Chrno knocked loudly on the door.

Seconds later Remington opened.

Without wasting a minute Chrno said: "I want a duel. The winner gets Rosette."

"Sword fight. No demonic powers are allowed." Remington said as fast as Chrno spoke before.

"Fine."

Remington gripped the sword hanging next to the door and Chrno drew his out of his sheath. "In the court?"

"In the court."

Both men stormed towards the court. They also stormed past Rosette who watched them shocked. "Please! You don't have to fight!" Rosette hurried after them again.

By now the tumult had woken other people as well. Azmaria and Joshua appeared in their nightgowns and asked Rosette worriedly what was going on. Rosette shrieked something non-understandable and proceeded following the two mad men.

When she heard the clicking sound of two blades she sped up. The girl stopped on the staircase that led to the court. Down there Chrno and Remington were already involved in a fast sword fight.

They spun around quickly and the blades crossed very often. It didn't take a long time until the first injuries appeared. They weren't bad, just some little scratches and cuts.

Chrno just avoided Remington's blade. He dodged, aimed and kicked Remington's chest sending him flying through the air. Remington did a somersault in the air and landed on his feet again. The blonde man jumped forward and he almost hit Chrno's side. There were only 2 centimetres between him and the blade. Chrno spun around and aimed with the blade for Remington's head. Just in time he was fast enough to block it with his own sword.

Remington pushed Chrno away and he stumbled backwards and fell. Remington jumped and rammed his sword into the ground just on the spot Chrno's head would have been if he hadn't rolled out of the way. The demon got on his feet again and swirled the sword around in his hands. For a human that Remington was a damn good fighter.

Warming up was over. Yes, that had only been warming up. Now the real fight began.

Rosette watched it terrified. No matter how much she screamed or yelled, they didn't hear her.

Adrenaline was flowing through their veins making them incredibly fast. The strikes got faster and faster. The blades were soaring through the air and crashed.

Then suddenly one of the swords fly high through the air. It landed some meters far away behind Remington. Remington smirked. He was the one still holding his sword.

Chrno couldn't believe it. How had that damn bastard been able to disarm him?

"Don't ya think the fight is over yet." He said angrily. Remington hadn't expected him to attack directly after losing his sword.

Chrno kicked Remington's sword out of his hands. It flew through the air too. Chrno kicked Remington's legs away causing him fall onto his back. The demon caught the sword that was falling down again. He knelt down over Remington and hold to blade to his throat. His pulse was still loud in his ears. "Seems like I won." Chrno's eyes glared bright red at Remington.

"Yes." The blonde grit his teeth. "Are you going to kill me now?" Remington asked him and glared back.

"STOP IT NOW!" Rosette screamed. She would feel terribly bad if a person died for her sake.

Chrno glanced over to Rosette and he calmed down. Suddenly he lifted the sword and rammed it down. It hit the spot one centimetre away from the other man's face. "No." He said coldly. "I guess you have to live with the shame of losing against me." Chrno released Remington and then he was on his way back to Rosette.

His opponent was a bad loser though. He snatched the sword and threw it at Chrno's back.

Rosette's eyes widened in shock. Chrno hadn't noticed that. She jumped forwards, collided with Chrno and pushed him aside by that.

There was a long silence. Open-mouthed Chrno stared at Rosette who lay across him. Instead of him the sword had hit her directly.

"YOU IDIOT!" Chrno roared at Remington who was as shocked as the other were.

Remington looked at him with a sour face. "If I can't have her, then nobody should."

Chrno pulled the sword out of Rosette back making more blood come out of the wound. He shook her softly and she smiled sadly at him. "You're safe." She said weakly.

Chrno shook his head. "But you're not." He sighed and held his hand over the wound on Rosette's back. She winced slightly when he touched it. His palm began to glow and the wound began to heal. (AN: So obvious that I didn't let her die… hu?)

Relieved Joshua ran to his sister too. Remington was imprisoned and later on he was executed because he had dared to threaten a member of the royal family.

Time had passed by. Chrno was back in the demonic kingdom. Right now they were in a council meeting again. There weren't any of the older Lords. The only remaining one from the last council was the Western Lady. Then there was the Southern Lord Chrno, the Eastern Lord Aion with his wife Rizelle and the Northern Lord Vido. Also a new member was the representative of the humans. Moreover there were lots of new younger generals who supported the peace politic.

They were just discussing about economy stuff when suddenly a servant interrupted the meeting. He bowed deeply and whispered something to Chrno.

"Excuse me please." Chrno called while he already left the room. The stunned Lords stayed back.

"Why haven't you called me earlier?" He barked at the servant who winced and disappeared.

Chrno stormed through the castle until he arrived in front of a certain door. There were already some screams heard.

In front of it he hesitated and gulped. Finally he pushed the door open and closed it gently behind him. Now he only had to go around a corner. His feet felt heavy when he did the last steps. His smile beamed brightly when he saw the sweat-covered Rosette with two screaming bundles in her arms. "Twins!"

**END**

**AN: **Thank you very much for reading that story. Many thanks to Lotus, Mariam, Binabella, WhiteRoseFox, manga-animelove who reviewed very often^^

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. Also thanks for faving and putting the story on you alert list.  
**


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